MSC now handling vessels from other companies

Shipping lines also allege that competitive conditions have changed as a result of the decision taken by the port authority to allow the MSC terminal to handle vessels from other companies without first having issued a public tender.

In February, Rafael Aznar, who heads the port authority, gave MSC permission to handle vessels from other companies, as long as they remained under its “operational control”. He apparently made this decision following advice contained with a report from the Attorney General.

The MSC terminal was already operating at the limits of its capacity just handling its own vessels. In 2013, it accounted for 1.7m teu of the port’s total box traffic of 4.3m teu in a terminal of just 300,000 m2.