However, the tender document also allows incumbents to bid to develop a terminal with a capacity of 50% more than their existing facility and to then abandon their existing facility, benefitting from certain financial concessions.
Speaking exclusively to Port Strategy, a port spokesperson said that if incumbents opted for the latter route it would be possible, through mutual agreement between the operator and the port authority, to recover 80% of any fixed assets that have not been amortised and without the loss of operating guarantees.
“It is only in that particular case – in other words, wanting to leave an existing terminal – when the capacity of the future terminal must be 50% higher than the existing one,” noted a spokesperson. “In other words, if a current operator wants to stop operating at a 1m teu capacity terminal and move to a new one, then they must commit to developing a terminal that has a future capacity of at least 1.5m teu.”
That capacity must be made available upon completion of works associated with the new terminal, which must conform to a timetable set out in the tender.
Furthermore, within four years of the start of operations, transhipped full containers must account for more than 20% of the capacity of the new terminal and full import-export boxes 40%.