Piraeus is already the third biggest port in the Mediterranean but Chinese conglomerate Cosco is determined to further upgrade the port.
Piraeus is currently the central gateway for Euro-Asian trade after Suez with transport of goods having more than tripled in the past five years.
German newspaper Die Zeit dubbed Piraeus as “the world’s fastest growing port” earlier this week, also predicting that it will be the largest port in the Mediterranean by 2019.
Zhang Anming, deputy general manager of COSCO Shipping’s subsidiary PCT at Piraeus told predicts the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) that in one and a half years it will sit at the top.
“Container traffic increased by 6.4 per cent in 2017 compared to 2016, from piers II and III of the port of Piraeus, managed by the Piraeus Container Terminal,” noted Zhang Anming.
“In absolute numbers: In 2017, 3,691 million containers were transported (Teus) compared with 3,471 million in 2016. In 2018 we can surpass the five million.”
“Only this year, the management seeks to increase freight traffic by 35 per cent,” he added stressing that Cosco has contributed to not only the development of the port, but it has also created 1,600 jobs upgrading the surrounding region and boosting the economy.