MED’ TRANSHIPMENT MERRY GO ROUND…
Another round of musical chairs appears to be underway in the Mediterranean transhipment business, writes Mike Mundy.
Maersk and its alliance partner MSC have withdrawn transhipment business from Malta Freeport in favour of a move to the north African port of Tangier Med and Port Said, Egypt.
Maersk’s sister company APM Terminals has recently opened its new automated container terminal at Tangier Med II and hence the transfer of transhipment operations to this location represents both a cost saving move and a beneficial one for the parent AP Moller-Maersk group overall.
Hapag Lloyd also just announced a minority stake investment in the other Tangier Med Terminal being developed under the Tangier II expansion. It has purchased a 10 per cent stake in the new Tangier Med terminal being developed by Marsa International Tangier Terminals (MITT) which is scheduled to open in mid-2020.
As a result, this new terminal business will now be known as the Tangier Alliance and will feature a new equity line-up comprising: 51 per cent Marsa Maroc, whose parent is MITT, Eurogate International and Contship Italia 39 per cent and Hapag Lloyd 10 per cent.
Generally, these two terminals significantly raise the stakes for Tangier Med in the container transhipment business opening the door to the port offering an annual capacity in excess of nine million TEU, a significant increase over the previous level of 3.4 million TEU/yr. Another game changer is set to be the port of Valencia’s fourth container terminal development – a facility designed to serve the largest vessels in service and foreseen for the future.
MSC, well established in Valencia, was the only bidder for the facility and is expected to set up an automated terminal operation there. The facility offers the potential to eventually raise total annual container throughput capacity at Valencia from the current level of 7.5 million TEU to 12.5 million TEU.
MSC, which operates its terminals under the Terminal Investment Limited (TIL) banner and already has one dedicated terminal in the port, clearly has plans to introduce major new container volume at this advanced new facility. No news yet as to where this will come from but it is reasonable to expect that this will also involve its partner in the 2M alliance, Maersk Line.
Other Med’ moves from container lines can be expected and particularly as a part of a shift to dedicated terminal operations and as a result of transhipment activity starting to grow significantly in the region again. Currently, transhipment accounts for around 65 per cent of Mediterranean container demand with growth stalled due to an excess of liner container capacity driving direct calls over transhipment. But as the excess reduces growth is expected to start climbing again.