The Greek Ministry of the marine Transport blocks the project of expansion of the container terminal of the port of the Pireo introduced from the COSCO



The Committee of planning and harbour development (ESAL), the organism of the Greek Ministry of the marine Transport and the insulare policies charged to analyze the harbour projects, has rejected the plan of Chinese group COSCO to realize a fourth container terminal in the port of the Pireo, port of call in which the Asian group it directly manages two terminal for containers to i Piers II and III through the Piraeus branch Container Terminal (PCT) and indirectly a third container terminal to the Pier through the harbour authority Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) of which it stops 51% of the capital. The Committee, met yesterday for giving own definitive response on the introduced infrastructural development plan from the PPA that is already under performance, has announced that "currently the conditions are not mature for the performance of this specific project".

However the ESAL has approved of the remaining part of the plan of the PPA that previews investments very in order 611,8 million euros, to exclusion of the project in order to widen the terminal for car to the Drapetsona Pier of the port of the Pireo that previously was withdrawn by the same Piraeus Port Authority as a result of consultations with Committee ESAL.

The Committee of planning and harbour development has emphasized that such investments are "very meaningful for the Country" and "they will create thousands of new places of work and they will contribute to the increase".

The introduced original project from the PPA previewed investments for about 800 million euros in order realizing, beyond to a fourth container terminal and a new terminal for car, a new terminal cruises, hotel and commercial structures, parkings and warehouses let alone the acquisition of motor vehicles for the passengers.

"After an attended long period of - the president of the Piraeus Port Authority has commented, Yu Zenggang - we have obtained the authorization to proceed with the implementation of huge investments that will make of the Pireo the more important port in the Mediterranean and will create still more occupation". Relatively to the failure of the expansion of the terminalistiche activities in the segment of the container, Zenggang it has specified that PPA confides "that soon the competent authorities can reconsider the widening of the container terminal which one of the more important investments that it will make of the port of the Pireo one of the terminals for more important containers in Europe".

Remembering that the project of potenziamento of the Greek port was from many years waiting for being authorized and that now is approved of in single three months, the minister of marine Transport Ioannis Plakiotakis, that is in charge from little weeks, has expressed satisfaction because - it has emphasized - a particularly meaningful investment, that for years it has had to exceed obstacles and it was considered a taboo, now is about to performance opening a new page in the excellent relations between Greece and China".

We remember that in the first semester of this year the enlivened containerized trade to i Pier II and III of the port of the Pireo from the PCT has been pairs to 2,57 million teu, with an increment of +23.8% on the first half of 2018(on 15 July 2019), while in the same period to the terminal of the Pier the managed one from PPA is enlivened 197 thousand teu, with a decrease of the -22,4% on the first semester last year(on 27 September 2019).