Tanjung Priok super port - WorldCargo News Online

PORT DEVELOPMENT
aging prices and costs more effectively,
while improving overall service levels to
our customers.
“We have a clear strategy and with a
sizeable presence in Izmit Bay [Yilport
Gebze] and Gemlik Bay, both of which
serve the faster growing industries located
on the Asian side of Istanbul, we
are well positioned to handle the rising
cargo volumes.”
Attracting cargo
Meanwhile, Yildirim highlighted the importance
of the group’s metallurgical businesses
and the close relationships it has
developed with ocean carriers, including
MSC and its direct investment in CMA
CGM, as being “highly significant in
drawing cargo to its ports”.
As to the future, the ebullient Yildirim
wants his port and terminals group to be
a strong player in the top 20 port operators’
league with a decent global presence.
“We are targeting up to three acquisitions
a year, believing this is fully sustainable
for our group,” he said. “Our focus
is on brown field sites/existing terminals
where we know we can raise productivity
and operating performances,
largely through better training and the introduction
of new equipment. When this
results in more business, then we move
on to bigger infrastructural projects, including
the wharves and yard areas.”
Initially, the global strategy is focused
on Latin America (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador
and Chile) and West Africa where
the company has existing and planned
mining and trading activities and where
efficient ports are an important element
for the group’s supply chain.
Compatriot terminal operator Arkas,
which controls the Marport complex in
Ambarli port and which handled 1.58M
TEU last year, appears content to stay in
Turkey when it comes to its port management
operations.
Larger vessels
Recent years have seen the operator gear
up the terminal to handle more large vessels,
particularly from its primary customer
MSC. “We extended the berthing line at
our West Terminal by 64 km and also expanded
the stacking areas and this allows
us to handle the 14,500 TEU class ships
that MSC bring into Turkey,” explained
Alp Capa, trade and customer relations
manager of the port services group.
“We have also expanded our warehousing
capacity as the LCL business from
Asia has been growing rapidly and we
have also seen a lot of breakbulk cargo
coming into the port from Russia for containerisation,
and then on-carriage.”
In other moves, Marport has been
making efforts to reduce its carbon footprint,
according to Capa, “working ahead
of more stringent laws eventually coming
into effect in Turkey”.
He explained: “We have spent about
US$4.5M on electrifying 35 of our rubber-tyred
yard gantry cranes and we have
many other initiatives in place.”
Looming challenge
Marport’s biggest challenge though is
dealing with the loss of at least 500,000
TEU and perhaps as much as 800,000
TEU of cargo when MSC shifts some of
its cargo volumes to Aysaport, near
Tekirdag. This facility is mainly for the
use of MSC, having been developed by
its port operating arm Terminal Investments
Ltd (TIL). Operations at the 1M
TEU capacity terminal are due to commence
later this year with MSC expected
to redirect most of its Black Sea transhipment
business and some local cargo (for
the Tekirdag area) to the port.
International terminal operators have
generally found Turkey challenging, with
Hong-Kong headquartered Hutchison
Port Holdings having had its concession
at Izmir cancelled in 2010 and Dubai’s
DP World still resolving issues and facing
severe delays in its plans to develop a 1.5M
TEU capacity facility at Yarimca.
Observers have pointed to land
ownership issues in Turkey, a failure to
lock down partnership agreements and
the nation’s different legal system as potential
sticking points for deals and the
reasons why so many projects have been
delayed and/or cancelled.
PSA International, however, has enjoyed
considerable success, with Mersin’s
throughput having risen every year since
the Singapore-based operator and its partner
Akfen secured the concession in 2007.
In 2012, a record 1.2M TEU was handled.
Marport terminal in Ambarli faces the challenge
of losing up to 800,000 TEU of cargo when
MSC shifts most of its transhipment business
and some local cargo to Aysaport, near Tekirdag
Terminal development
APM Terminals (APMT) is also happy
with the progress being made on its
project near Izmir, recently cementing a
deal with Petkim Petrokimya Holding, a
Turkey-listed petrochemicals company
majority-owned the State Oil Company
of Azerbaijan, to press ahead with development
of a 1.5M TEU capacity terminal
on land Petkim controls in Nemrut Bay.
Initially, an estimated US$400M will
be spent on the Aegean Gateway Terminal,
which APMT will manage under a
28-year concession agreement. The deal
allows for a possible expansion of the facility’s
design throughput capacity to 3M
TEU/year and for the development of
an on-dock rail yard.
“This is an exciting opportunity for
us and the region as a whole which needs
a purpose-designed container terminal,”
said Martijn van Dongen, head of European
business development for APMT.
“In this region the majority of
containerships are being handled at
smaller facilities with limited water depth
and the available capacity is heavily utilised.
Our new terminal will provide this
much needed additional capacity while
also raising levels of efficiency and pro-
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May 2013 47