Greece’s Piraeus Port could become the leading port in the Mediterranean if a further investment goes ahead.
Port managers, Cosco Group and the Hellenic government have negotiated a new investment of 224 million Euros regarding the further expansion of Pier III in the container handling terminal.
The agreement was announced by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, during his speech in the inauguration ceremony of the new Pier III. The new investment has been proposed by Cosco and if realised will add 500 additional jobs and enhance the port's handling capacity to reach almost 7 million TEUs annually.
Samaras said Cosco has already invested 340 million Euros, without exhausting the port's capacity.
Capt. Wei Jiafu, Cosco Group president said the company handled 116,000 TEUs during its first year in the port and reached 2.1 million TEUs in 2012. This year it is projected that a total of 2.5 million TEUs will be handled.
The new Pier III has been completed three years ahead of the original timeframe with operations scheduled to begin today (July 1) and has resulted in a five year extension of Cosco’s concession agreement to a total of 35 years.
The port will now be able to handle 4.7 million TEUs per year.
