Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL) has purchased a 27 per cent stake in Montego Bay-based Cargo Handlers Limited (CHL), which manages the trans-shipment of cargo at the Port of Montego Bay.

The acquisition of shares was completed on Monday, July 14, 2025, with KWL acquiring 112,911,980 stock units for an undisclosed amount.

According to a joint release from KWL and CHL, “The block purchase was of shares owned by Mrs Jane Fray, who was a founding partner of CHL, along with Mr Tony Hart and the Hart family, who remain major shareholders in the company.”

CHL has for over forty years specialised in stevedoring bulk, break bulk, construction inputs and containerised cargo as well as baggage handling and provisioning for cruise vessels at the Port of Montego Bay. CHL also holds strategic investments in logistics and distribution interests that use the cargo handling services of the Port of Montego Bay.

Strategic partnership

Commenting on the deal, KWL CEO Mark Williams outlined: “KWL has taken note of the bold spirit of enterprise and development that defines Montego Bay. The development of tourism on the North Coast and the pioneering moves in the BPO sector were centred in Montego Bay and have served as key economic engines for all of Jamaica. KWL has long been convinced that there will be an equally important role for Montego Bay in Jamaica’s logistics sector.”

When asked at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce’s Business 2^nd Quarter Business and Consumer Indices press briefing what plans KWL has for the Port of Montego Bay, Williams responded that the shareholding acquired in Cargo Handlers is not significant enough to lead the decision-making at the Montego Bay company. Rather, he said it lends itself to a strategic partnership between KWL and CHL.

The aim of the acquisition, Williams stated, is to “lend support, expertise and build synergies”. He further revealed to Our Today that KWL still has an option to increase its stake in CHL to 40 per cent within a given timeframe.

“The idea right now is a strategic involvement. We certainly believe that Mark Hart and his team have done an exceptionally good job. What we want to do is however we can assist in leveraging the expertise of KWL in container management, we will do that,” he continued.

KWL is recognised as a leading multipurpose terminal and logistics services operator in the Caribbean. It operates a 1.7-kilometre continuous quay with nine deep-water berths and on-dock open storage handling a range of automotive, containerised, bulk and breakbulk cargo. KWL operates an extensive fleet of mobile harbour cranes, reach stackers, reefer plugs, bomb carts and terminal tractors as well as over 400,000 square feet of chilled and ambient warehousing, including a modern, full-service container freight station.

Chairman of Cargo Handlers Limited Mark Hart noted that CHL and its principals have had a long history of partnerships that support the development of the Port of Montego Bay.

“We are optimistic that our relationship with KWL will be no different. We have invited representatives of KWL to join our board and to participate in the governance and ongoing strategic development of CHL,” he explained further.

 “One of our enduring partnerships supporting the development of the port of Montego Bay has been with agri-business interests linked to Jamaica Producers Group Limited (JP) and Mr Charles Johnston. We recognise that JP has strong connections with KWL, and this adds to our confidence in the transaction and the prospects for working together,” Hart added.

According to Hart, Fray’s sale of shares forms part of an orderly and planned succession in which the founding shareholders and directors agreed that upon their retirement, they would cooperate to identify partners and successors with the interest and capacity to continue to develop the enterprise.

CHL was founded in 1981 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and has continuously operated as a significant employer and stevedore in the Port of Montego Bay since its inception. CHL has been listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange since 2015.

Jeffrey Hall, chairman of Kingston Wharves, has agreed to immediately join the board of CHL and is expected to be followed in due course by other representatives of KWL.

“Kingston Wharves, like CHL, operates within the special context of a public wharf. We have in common a duty to timely customer service, capital investment, labour, teamwork and skill-building as well as entrepreneurship in the interest of national development. We are truly excited about the opportunity to work together to serve Jamaica’s wider maritime community,” Hall remarked.