Room for one more?

One such candidate is Sines, although can it learn lessons from previous failed attempts? Malaga tried to develop a transshipment role as an Algeciras overflow, but it never worked, because it did not offer the scale of capacity, had higher (Spanish) labour costs and had no shipping line backing. Located 58 nautical miles from Lisbon in southern Portugal, Sines Container Terminal, called Terminal XXI, has been operated since 2004 by PSA Sines – Terminais de Contentores S.A. which is part of PSA International.

With water depth of 17m, a quay of 1040m, 10 Post-Panamax and Super Post-Panamax cranes, with a supporting 42ha yard, the 2.3 million TEU capacity offers the required attributes to be a transshipment hub, with a €547 million expansion ongoing. The quay length is increasing to 1950m, (plus 200m), to allow simultaneous berthing of four ULCV and one feeder ship. An additional nine Super Post Panamax cranes are planned, with the storage yard increasing to 60ha, thereby offering an annual capacity of 4.1 million TEU.

Total container traffic in 2021 was 1.82 million TEU, with the H1 2022 figure of 843,525TEU representing a drop of 6.8 per cent over H1 2021. With the additional capacity, there will be pressure on PSA Sines to attract increased traffic and targeting more transshipment, especially relay activity, could be on its agenda.

However, with Maersk Line and CMA CGM highly entrenched in the Straits of Gibraltar, then the 50 per cent shareholding retained by Terminal Investment Ltd (TiL – the terminal investment arm of MSC) will be crucial in fulfilling this additional space moving forward. However, could this then see transshipment traffic pulled away from MSC’s established hub port of Valencia, despite the liner operator targeting development of a new 5 million TEU per annum capacity facility as part of an investment of close to €1.4 billion at this port? An interesting regional strategy to be noted.