By A. Tsimplakis
[email protected]
The Cosco-managed port of Piraeus is expected to exceed the four-million teu threshold, in terms of container cargo, at the end of 2017.
A Cosco subsidiary that manages piers II and III at the port recently announced that container traffic so far in 2017 has exceeded 3.7 teu, whereas pier 1, which is directly run by the Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), reported 380,000 teu over the first 10-month period, an increase of 80 percent compared to the same period in 2016.
The goal for 2019, according to the port's management, is five million teu, which would render Piraeus as one of the 30 biggest commercial ports in the world.
At present, Lloyds List places Piraeus in the 38th place internationally for 2016, up from 43rd in 2015, when the Shanghai-based Chinese multinational assumed the management of the Piraeus Port Authority (August 2015) in what was then one of the most important privatizations in modern Greek history.
Some 3.33 million teu in cargo was shipped through the port in 2015, rising to 3.736 teu in 2016.
Piraeus was in third place in 2016 in terms of other Mediterranean ports, behind Spain's Algeciras (4.76 million teu) and Valencia (4.72 million teu).
According to PPA CEO Capt. Fu Chengqiu, the long-term goal for Piraeus remains 10 million teu.
