OCEANIA

Fremantle car concession popular

11 years ago

Competition is strong for the concession to operate a single new automotive terminal at Victoria Quay in the inner harbour at the port of Fremantle.

The roll-on roll-off traffic at Fremantle is spread across common-user terminals at Victoria Quay and North Quay, and the intention is to consolidate this at one spot. Main rivals for the 20-year concession are AAT, a joint venture between subsidiaries of QUBE Holdings and Asciano, and VQIRT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Terminals.

The Australian consumer watchdog, the ACCC, has cleared VQIRT to bid for the concession, allaying fears that it could provide preferential treatment to its related shipping line Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.

The ACCC has accepted VQIRT’s open-access regime would not discriminate against competing shipping lines and other terminal users, including stevedores and pre-delivery inspection facility operators.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said that without such an undertaking, the watchdog would have been concerned VQIRT could operate “to the detriment of other shipping companies”. He added that an important additional feature of the undertaking is that the ACCC can publicly review it two years after commencement and every five years thereafter.