THE Port of Montreal is expanding the capacity of one of its four main terminals 70 per cent to keep up with a growing demand that boosted cargo volumes through the port reach 2 .1 million TEU a year.
The expansion plan, which will take the Viau Terminal from an annual capacity of 350,000 TEU to 600,000 TEU, comes just 28 months after the port opened the C$105 million (US$78.5 million) container terminal.
The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) said the project will boost overall port capacity to 2.1 million TEU, adding that the port is also planning to open a fifth terminal in the next five years, reports IHS Media.
The Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), a long-term partner with Termont in the port that helped build the terminal that opened in 2016, will be a key beneficiary of the project.
MSC said it has increased its cargo through Montreal 10 per cent per year over the past five years. 'This additional capacity at Viau will support such growth over the next two years,' said MSC Canada chief Sokat Shaikh.
The expansion comes as the port prepares to add a seventh service, operated by Cosco Shipping, a sign of the growing demand for port services that has been fuelled in part by the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union in September 2017.
Cargo volumes through the port, Canada's second largest container port after Vancouver, have grown 40 per cent since 2013, taking the total from 1.2 million TEU in 2013 to 1.68 million TEU in 2018, according to MPA figures.
Container throughput has grown another eight per cent year on year in the early part of 2019, the figures show.
For the Viau expansion, the MPA will contribute C$15 million and Termont Montreal Inc, which operates the terminal along with the Maisonneuve terminal, will pay C$30 million (US$22.5 million), according to the MPA. The Canadian government will contribute C$7 million to the project.
WORLD SHIPPING
The expansion plan, which will take the Viau Terminal from an annual capacity of 350,000 TEU to 600,000 TEU, comes just 28 months after the port opened the C$105 million (US$78.5 million) container terminal.
The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) said the project will boost overall port capacity to 2.1 million TEU, adding that the port is also planning to open a fifth terminal in the next five years, reports IHS Media.
The Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), a long-term partner with Termont in the port that helped build the terminal that opened in 2016, will be a key beneficiary of the project.
MSC said it has increased its cargo through Montreal 10 per cent per year over the past five years. 'This additional capacity at Viau will support such growth over the next two years,' said MSC Canada chief Sokat Shaikh.
The expansion comes as the port prepares to add a seventh service, operated by Cosco Shipping, a sign of the growing demand for port services that has been fuelled in part by the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union in September 2017.
Cargo volumes through the port, Canada's second largest container port after Vancouver, have grown 40 per cent since 2013, taking the total from 1.2 million TEU in 2013 to 1.68 million TEU in 2018, according to MPA figures.
Container throughput has grown another eight per cent year on year in the early part of 2019, the figures show.
For the Viau expansion, the MPA will contribute C$15 million and Termont Montreal Inc, which operates the terminal along with the Maisonneuve terminal, will pay C$30 million (US$22.5 million), according to the MPA. The Canadian government will contribute C$7 million to the project.
WORLD SHIPPING