Shipping company COSCO’s subsidiary unit, COSCO Pacific, has received approval from the Port of Piraeus, Greece, to invest a further US$285 million in its container-handling facilities.
The investment has been made in order to develop a fourth quay at the port in a bid to increase overall capacity to over six million, according to the Journal of Commerce.
In the space of five years, traffic at the port has rocketed from 430,000 TEU in 2008 to almost 3.2 million in 2013, marking the ports transition from an inefficient, regional port to a significant international transhipment hub.
COSCO Pacific accounts for 80% of the port’s TEU growth and currently has a 35-year concession, which was obtained in 2009, to operate two of the port’s container quays.
Under COSCO Pacific’s management, traffic increased 23% year-on-year to more than 2.2 million TEU for the Port of Piraeus, making it the second fastest growing terminal for the company.
COSCO is also said to be working with Sony for its rail freight service that will be travelling to Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Cosco in $285 million Greek port drive. Source: Piraeus Port Authority
