APM Terminals buys 61% of Dunkirk terminal

APM Terminals buys 61% of Dunkirk terminal

   APM Terminals has acquired 61 percent of the shares in Dunkirk container terminal operation Nord France Terminal International from the Port Authority of Dunkirk. No financial details were disclosed.

   The transaction gives the A.P. Moller-Maersk subsidiary majority ownership and operational management of the container terminal until 2034. The Port Authority of Dunkirk will keep a 9 percent shareholding. Interferry-Boats, a subsidiary of the Belgian Railways, is finalizing a deal to sell its share to CMA CGM-subsidiary Terminal Link

   “Dunkirk offers our customers a competitive edge with its favorable location between Paris, London and Brussels, access to a market of 100 million consumers, excellent port labor and management as well as deepwater draft,” said Kim Fejfer, APM Terminals’ chief executive officer.

   CMA CGM and Maersk Line are the major customers at the terminal, which handled 205,000 TEUs in 2005.

   The Port Authority of Dunkirk said it is close to acquiring two additional ship-to-shore gantry cranes to complement its existing four cranes, and boost the terminal’s capacity to over a half-million TEUs.