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Port of Piraeus optimistic on 2010 growth |
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 |
 After a more than two-year turbulent period, the Piraeus Port Authority has finally regained its gear and is set to move forward this year. Undisrupted by strikes, work stoppages and work conflicts, the country’s biggest port is looking at better days, as it should be confirmed on the upcoming – as it seems – visit this month of the head of Cosco, in order to formally ratify the recent agreement between the Chinese conglomerate and the Port Authority (OLP),
whose new head Mr. George Anomeritis has managed to straighten up.
According to reports, in the meantime a series of details of the
agreement are expected to be sorted out. Among those is operation of
container handling Pier II, which will be run by Cosco, as well as the
respective cooperation between the two parties after June the 1st, when
OLP will begin its operation of Pier I, which is currently undergoing
an upgrading of infrastructure. As a result, OLP’s management has
already reached a deal to receive additional cargoes from Cosco’s
parent company. The capacity of Pier I is enough to cover not only all
domestic needs (imports-exports), but also up to 400,000 additional
containers (transit).
But, the visit of Capt. Wei Jiafu is
expected to formalize all details into a solid basis of agreement, thus
paving the way for the beginning of Cosco’s 35-year concession of the
port’s facilities (Piers II and III). The deal is expected to enable
the Chinese company to acquire a strategic advantage in its battle with
its rival containership companies, which already have a strong foothold
in neighboring Mediterranean ports, as well as other major European
ports.
Based on reports, Capt. Jiafu is expected to hold talks on
other issues as well, such as the cooperation between Hellas and China
on a broader level, as he’s going to meet with most of the country’s
leadership, including Prime Minister George Papandreou. Capt. Jiafu has
been the head of Cosco since 2000. The Chinese conglomerate is the
fourth largest shipping group in the world, operating 18 ports
globally, alongside 27 terminals and more than 600 ships. Out of them,
about 140 of them are its own.
According to a recent report by
BMI, the country’s main ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki witnessed a
decrease in throughput in 2008, mainly as a result of strikes by
dockworkers. Although 2009 figures aren’t yet available, BMI doesn’t
expect throughput at the ports to increase as the downturn will see
Greece demanding less imports and producing less for export. Throughput
at the port of Piraeus is forecast to decline by 2.9% in 2009 with
volumes of goods passing through Thessaloniki expected to fall by 9.6%.
Container volumes are forecast to plummet and both ports with a decline
of 14.4% and 23.9% predicted respectively.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
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