AMSTERDAM: China’s Cosco Shipping Ports and Qingdao Port International Development have partnered with Netherlands-headquartered international port terminal operator APM Terminals to run two port terminals in Vado, Italy.
The Hague-based APM Terminals this week concluded an agreement with China Cosco Shipping Ports, subject to customary conditions, for the sale of a minority share in a new joint venture created for the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network’s operations in Vado, Italy.
A similar agreement was also concluded with Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) Co, Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qingdao Port International Co, which shall become an indirect minority shareholder in the joint venture.
The agreements include interests in both the existing Reefer Terminal in Vado, the largest refrigerated cargo facility on the Mediterranean Sea, and the new 800,000 TEU capacity deep-water terminal currently under construction at the Port of Vado.
APM Terminals will have a 50.1 per cent share, and will operate both the Reefer Terminal and the APM Terminals Vado container terminal; Cosco Shipping Ports will have a 40 per cent share, and Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) Co, a 9.9 per cent share.
At a signing ceremony in Shanghai, out-going APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer said: “Through global partnerships and shared goals of operational excellence, there is much we can achieve together, even in the current difficult business environment, and we are pleased to build upon our close relationships with Cosco Shipping Ports, and the Qingdao Port Group.”