Rivals ATM and TMB set up joint venture company

Lloyd’s List reports that port operators and regional development agencies in the north of England are calling for a delay on three outstanding applications to build additional facilities in the south (London Gateway, Felixstowe South and Bathside Bay) until alternative schemes are considered in other parts of the country. They want a broader approach to planning, says the paper.

Bilbao’s two container terminals, ATM and TMB, are putting the final touches to a joint company, Estiba XXI, to manage their equipment assets. The initiative is being launched as a means of reducing operating costs for both terminals, optimising the use of the machinery and undertaking joint maintenance of the RTG fleet. The move was forced on both companies by their inability to attract additional traffic flows to Bilbao’s Outer Harbour development. According to the business plan advanced by the two companies prior to assuming management of the new terminals, throughput at the port of Bilbao should have reached 700,000 TEUs in 2004, whereas the true figure was 468,958 TEUs, albeit an increase of 4.55% over 2003.