The Hong Kong Competition Commission has opened an investigation into the Seaport Alliance, the five-party terminal operator collaboration announced on January 9 2019.
According to a statement, the Commission will look into whether the deal struck breaks the First Conduct Rule of the Competition Ordinance which concerns the “preventing, restricting or competition in Hong Kong”.
The Seaport Alliance, the formation of which PTI reported on, is made up of Hutchison Ports, Hong Kong International Terminals, Modern Terminals, COSCO-HIT Terminals and Asia Container Terminals.
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As part of the agreement, the parties will jointly operate and manage their 23 berths across 8 terminals at Kwai Tsing, Hong Kong.
The main goal of the alliance is to improve the fortunes of the Port of Hong Kong, which in 2005 was the busiest port in the world in 2005 but has dropped to sixth after it lost its place as China’s main gateway.
The Hong Kong Competition Commission says it is treating the matter as a priority.
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