PSA International Pte Ltd said it has completed the acquisition of Halterm Container Terminal in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
The deal between PSA and Macquarie was first announced in May, and PSA said the deal has now been formally approved by regulators. PSA is owned by Temasek, an investment fund owned by the government of Singapore.
Macquarie Infrastructure Partners had owned Halterm for 12 years PSA also is acquiring Penn Terminals on the Delaware River from Macquarie. DP World acquired Fraser Surrey Docks in British Columbia from Macquariee in May.
PSA was ranked as the third-largest container terminal operator in the world after COSCO Shipping Ports and Hutchison Port Holdings by Lloyd’s List in 2018.
PSA said Halterm is the only container terminal in eastern Canada that can serve mega container vessels. It operates three container berths covering more than a kilometer of quay length with depth of up to 16 meters.
The terminal currently is undergoing further berth expansion, including the delivery of a fifth super post-Panamax quay crane, which Halterm said will allow it to handle two mega container vessels concurrently in 2020.
“We look forward to working with PSA International, sharing with them best practices and developing new technologies and digital strategies that will position the Port of Halifax for future growth, for the benefit of both our organizations, for Halifax, for Nova Scotia and all of Canada,” said Karen Oldfield, president and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority.
In June the Canadian government said it will invest $47.5 million on two projects aimed at increasing capacity at the Port of Halifax and reducing truck traffic in downtown Halifax.
Part of the money will be used to increase storage capacity at the Port of Halifax by boosting capacity on a rail line that connects Halterm’s South End Container Terminal with the Fairview Cove Container Terminal at the north end of the city operated by Ceres. The aim is to allow more containers to move to and from the Halterm facility by rail instead of trucks driving through the heart of Halifax.
In Canada, PSA also operates Ashcroft Terminal, an inland port facility located about 300 kilometers east of the Port of Vancouver.