China Shipping Group Favors Greek Island

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The state-owned China Shipping Group may launch a project to develop a transshipment container terminal on the Greek island of Crete, the Merchant Marine Ministry said Friday.

The company's president, Li Kelin, wrote to Greek Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefalogiannis earlier this week stating that after visits to a number of European locations, "Crete was the highlight."


"The geographical location of Crete makes it an ideal choice to develop a transshipment center for the East Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea," Li added.

Li said the port of Timbaki on Crete's south coast "with all its features is a good site for transshipment terminals."

The shipping group is one of the world's largest and its intention to set up a transshipment center in the Mediterranean was a reflection of China's growing exports to Europe.

In his letter, Li said that establishing China Shipping's own transshipment hub in the Mediterranean was firmly on the company's agenda given the rapid growth of the company's container volume on its Far East-Mediterranean services.

The company has carried between 800,000 and 1 million containers to the Mediterranean so far this year.

China Shipping operates a total fleet of 400 vessels with an aggregate deadweight of 11.5 million metric tons (12.68 million tons). The company's container unit, China Shipping Containers Co. Ltd., has more than 100 vessels with a total shipping capacity of nearly 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. One TEU unit is equal to around 40.9 cubic meters.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/...1111&ID=5247088

Gov’t eager to pursue
Crete harbor project with Chinese investors
NIKOS BARDOUNIAS

The government is speeding up efforts to strike a deal for a joint investment with China to construct a new port station at Tymbaki, southern Crete, as sizable as Greece’s biggest port, Piraeus, Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis said yesterday.

The project will allow for the transit of 1 million containers to the Black Sea, the Aegean, the Balkans, the Adriatic and Western Europe. He added that a bilateral government contract could be signed to accelerate the investment, bypassing many bureaucratic and time-consuming procedures.

The development of ports and their transformation into competitive entities is a key point in the ministry’s policy, which is why “specific policies have been realized with tangible results” by the ministry and its Port Policy General Secretariat, Kefaloyiannis said yesterday. Ministry data show that across all ports there are currently infrastructure and modernization projects under way worth a total of 335 million euros.

Kefaloyiannis suggested that the port policy’s main objective is attracting private capital for investments in ports so as to improve their services. To assist such public-private partnerships, the ministry has set up an Investment Reception Office.

Highlighting Greek ports as transit centers is another objective, according to Kefaloyiannis, aimed at increasing containers passing through.

“We seek to create transit centers as well as free transit, industrial zones and free complexes in the country’s customs regions to support and develop our trade and industry, in cooperation with the Economy and Finance Ministry,” he said.

The policy also includes the promotion of combined transport and the infrastructure associated with it such as rail, road and air links for ports. “We want to succeed and are working toward this direction with the development of short-distance shipping through better connectivity of major Greek ports with ports in the eastern Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea by using the Marco Polo program,” the minister noted.

Another priority is securing environmental protection by evaluating and approving the Ship Waste Reception Plans, creating infrastructure where required and increasing environmental checks.

“In the context of a rational, responsible and fact-based port policy we promote local, regional and national development,” Kefaloyiannis said. “These aims include promoting the competitiveness of maritime transport and providing modern high-level services with an emphasis on safety, fast service and low costs,” he added.

Finally, the minister referred to the first measures proposed to upgrade the ship repair zone of Perama, including the expansion of the seafront by about 80 meters to allow for the development of companies operating in the zone in the 93,000 square meters to be created. Another proposal concerns the possibility of conceding space in the repair zone for 20 years to shipyard enterprises that will realize new investments.



ekathimerini.com

Very interesting.. thamks 123 ! :thumbsup:

China's Cosco eyes taking part in Greece's Pireaus Port Authority privatization
01.31.2006, 10:16 AM


ATHENS (AFX) - Chinas Cosco has expressed an interest in participating in any upcoming privatization or capital raising by Greeces Pireaus Port Authority (PPA) via its local unit Cosco Hellas, PPA said.

The Thessalonica Port Authority also said today that Cosco Hellas expressed interest in developing its cooperative ties with the northern Greek port.

PPA is currently 74.1 pct controlled by the Greek state.

At 4.00 pm local time, PPA shares were up 1 pct to 17.96 eur on the news, and the ASE general index was 0.6 pct higher at 3,979 points.

SOURCE: Euro2day.gr NewsWire

skrekas@euro2day.gr

ns/vs/hjp








http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2...afx2489052.html

Well, Karamanlis' visit in China was obviously not in vain... :D

:applause:

WoW.. Creta to be the terminal of all Chinese products towards Europe.. :drink2:

COSCO interested to buy stake in Greek port
By Dai Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-09 05:37


China shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) is in talks to own part of a major Greek port giving it increased access to European markets.

Company officials said COSCO Hellas, the firm's subsidiary in Greece, is interested in taking part in possible plans to buy shares in the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA).

So said an official surnamed Chen at COSCO's port operations department.

PPA handles almost 60 per cent of all Greek shipping.

Chen said COSCO President Wei Jiafu discussed port investment when he met Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in January, who was on an official visit to China.

Chen would not give further details as talks are in the initial stages.

The chance to buy into ports was created with the privatization of significant ports in Greece, including Piraeus.

The Greek Government owns 74.1 per cent of PPA at the moment.

The Thessalonica Port Authority said COSCO Hellas has also expressed an interest in developing co-operative ties with the northern Greek port.

Another firm, China Shipping Group (CSG) China's second-largest shipping company is seeking facilities in the Greek port of Crete.

COSCO President Wei Jiafu said earlier that port investment is a priority for the company's future expansion.

In December the group was involved in a joint venture formed by AP Moeller-Maersk and Hutchison Whampoa to buy and develop the second phase of Shanghai's Yangshan port. COSCO Pacific, a port investor affiliated to the Group, took 10 per cent of the venture.

In December, the group also signed an agreement to buy a 20 per cent stake in the Suez Canal Container Terminal in Egypt, its first port investment in the Middle East.

COSCO now holds stakes in a number of Chinese ports in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Rim in northern China.

Outside of China, it has a 49 per cent stake in a terminal in Singapore, a 25 per cent stake in Belgium's Antwerp port and stakes in other ports in the United States.

COSCO is expected to register a pre-tax profit of around 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in 2005, breaking all past records, said Chen.


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2...tent_518508.htm