It’s been ten years since the formal takeover of Pier II by the Chinese Cosco and by the end of the year, the port of Piraeus will be winning -for the first time- the first place in the Mediterranean Sea in container traffic volumes.
It is reported that at the end of July it has left behind the Spanish port of Valencia which is also “running” at fast pace. It is worth mentioning that in the first half of 2019 the port of Valencia had an increase of 8.72% in container traffic (2.739.198 TEU) while at the same period the port of Piraeus reached 2,57 million TEU showing a rise of over 23%!
The sharp increase of more than 700% since 2009 has reportedly led Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) management to request the creation of a fourth container pier in the master plan, which will be submitted to the Planning and Development Committee for approval in the forthcoming days. According to the same information, the addition of the fourth pier is considered necessary as the existing volume management capacity has already become limited.
At the same time, the Master Plan includes, among other things, the creation of shopping malls, recreational areas, hotels, new logistic warehouses, a car terminal as well as a shipyard.
The new government has shown a positive view of PPA’s new master plan, while a decision by the Council of State has appealed positively for the construction of a shipyard.