A shipping publication has reported that a California congressman is seeking a federal review of an agreement that would have Gulftainer lease the Port of Wilmington with an eye toward building a container port at the former Chemours Edgemoor site.
The report came from Port Strategy Magazine.
The website for the magazine reported that Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, sent a letter to President Donald Trump to put the deal on hold until the Committee on Foreign Investment can investigate the deal.
The Delaware General Assembly must also sign off on the 50-year lease.
Worries about the agreement have been making the rounds in conservative circles in Delaware and elsewhere suggesting that the principals of Emirates-based Gulftainer have ties to Russia and to Middle East terrorism.
Similar worries sunk a deal more than a decade ago that would have allowed a government-owned Emirates entity to operate ports in the U.S. Gulftainer is a private company.
Critics have gone so far as to suggest the possibility that weapons of mass destruction, including a missile in a shipping container, could be smuggled into the port.
Gulftainer currently operates a port in Florida under a long-term lease.
