APM Terminals (APMT) has signed a 50-year concession agreement with ENNA Group for the design, construction, and operation of a new container terminal in Rijeka on the North Adriatic coast of Croatia.
The agreement will see APMT control 51% of the Rijeka Gateway Container Terminal, while ENNA will own the remaining 49%.
The new terminal is expected to become operational after the first phase of development is completed three and a half years. After the completion of phase two, the terminal is expected to have a total throughput of 1,055,000 TEU.
“For APMT, development of this new facility is in line with our newly launched strategy of ‘Safer, Better, Bigger’. We want to grow our business where it makes sense and where our customers need us, and this is clearly the case with Rijeka,” said Morten Engelstoft, CEO of APMT.
“We are seeing a growing need for efficient, well-operated, and modern gateway terminals, which serve as entry points to local and regional markets, bringing containerised goods closer to their end customers. We are confident that Rijeka Gateway will become an important spot on the port logistics map, serving not only Croatia but also the wider Central Europe region.
Once development is completed, the new terminal will hold a berth length of 400m, extending to 680m after the completion of phase two. A total of three ship-to-shore (STS) cranes will also be in place, this will increase to four after phase two is completed. Overall, this will make the terminal able to handle vessels of up to 24,000 TEU.
Pavao Vujnovac, President of the Board for the ENNA Group, added “Building partnerships with global business systems has always been part of the business strategy at ENNA Group. APMT and Maersk have been strong business partners for ENNA, and partners that show share our values and business vision.
“We firmly believe that our joint venture of investment into the Zagreb Deep Sea Container Terminal in Rijeka will lay the foundations for further growth and sustainability of the port operations and logistics business in Rijeka and in the Republic of Croatia.”
One of the largest features of the new terminal will be its efficient rail connection with the hinterland, linking Rijeka with the rest of Croatia and neighbouring markets.
“Rijeka Gateway and the modernisation of the railway infrastructure is Croatia’s largest national project that will connect the Port of Rijeka with continental Croatia and Central European countries, facilitating business opportunities and fast economic growth not only in logistics but in all services and industries,” continued Vujnovac.
“We are very pleased that after three years of cooperation between Maersk and ENNA Transport, we are starting a new partnership between APM Terminals and ENNA. We know that Rijeka Gateway will become an extraordinarily important factor in the logistics map of Europe.”
This follows the news that AMPT and Chinese equipment manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited (ZPMC) have entered into a strategic alliance on equipment purchasing.
Announced in October 2021, both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will change equipment purchasing from a transactional process to a strategic collaboration – with a focus on automation.
