ICTSI asks Oz minister to speed Melbourne box terminal expansion approval
AUSTRALIA's state government of Victoria has been asked to tell the Port of Melbourne to hasten its approval of construction of new berths to handle expected 8,000-TEU ships, reports London's Loadstar.
The chief executive of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) has written to the Victorian government requesting its intervention with Port of Melbourne over the delay.
Australian ports are under increased pressure from container shipping lines to upgrade their container terminals to accommodate bigger box ships, deployed to reduce costs.
Cascading on north-south trades is accelerating as vessels on east-west trade lanes are replaced by ultra-large tonnage.
VICT, owned by Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI), signed a 20-year design, build and operate lease with Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) in May 2014 for the outer city facility.
VICT chief executive Anders Dommestrup, said he had to write to Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, saying that the circumstances in which VICT won the tender "have changed significantly".
"When we requested support to build berths for larger ships, PoMC said a review of the conditions for larger vessels to berth at Webb Dock would take two years, with no guarantee of certainty," said Mr Dommestrup.
AUSTRALIA's state government of Victoria has been asked to tell the Port of Melbourne to hasten its approval of construction of new berths to handle expected 8,000-TEU ships, reports London's Loadstar.
The chief executive of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) has written to the Victorian government requesting its intervention with Port of Melbourne over the delay.
Australian ports are under increased pressure from container shipping lines to upgrade their container terminals to accommodate bigger box ships, deployed to reduce costs.
Cascading on north-south trades is accelerating as vessels on east-west trade lanes are replaced by ultra-large tonnage.
VICT, owned by Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI), signed a 20-year design, build and operate lease with Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) in May 2014 for the outer city facility.
VICT chief executive Anders Dommestrup, said he had to write to Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, saying that the circumstances in which VICT won the tender "have changed significantly".
"When we requested support to build berths for larger ships, PoMC said a review of the conditions for larger vessels to berth at Webb Dock would take two years, with no guarantee of certainty," said Mr Dommestrup.