Piraeus Container Terminal (SEP), the local subsidiary of China’s Cosco, handled 2.52 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teu) at terminals II and III in the port of Piraeus in 2013. When that is added to the 644,000 containers handled at Terminal I, operated by Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), Greece’s biggest port handled a total of over 3.16 million containers last year.
SEP posted a 20 per cent increase last year, on top of the massive 77 per cent rise recorded in 2012. The dock operated by OLP only registered a 3 per cent increase within the last year.
Once Cosco’s new investment at the western section of Terminal III is completed, the capacity of the whole of Piraeus port will grow from a current annual 4.2 million teu to 6.2 million teu, with experts forecasting that Piraeus could become the biggest commercial port in the Mediterranean by 2016. In 2012 Piraeus ranked fourth, with Valencia in first place, handling 4.46 million teu. Another Spanish port, Algeciras, was in second and Turkey’s Ambarli in third.
The proximity of Piraeus to the Suez Canal, which is the point of entry for Asian products to Europe, and its rail interconnection with the national and continental networks, saves some six days for products on their way to Central Europe, making it the gateway of choice for Asian trade.
A second comparative advantage for Piraeus is its car terminal, which is already showing major growth. The Mediterranean is a key European entry point for vehicles from Japan, South Korea and India, so Piraeus is a top-choice transit centre for cars, too, while European Union car imports from Japan through the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea are on the rise.
On the other hand, passenger traffic in the port of Piraeus fell to 17,670,000 passengers in 2013, from 17,980,000 in 2012, although passenger traffic in the sea cruise sector jumped 11.1 per cent to 2,296,000 departure-arrivals from 2,067,000 in 2012, according to official figures released this week.
According to the report by the Piraeus Port Organisation, passenger traffic in the coastal shipping sector (Aegean sea lines) totalled 5,741,167 passengers, while passenger traffic in Argosaronic Gulf was 1,856,519 passengers.
George Anomeritis, chairman and chief executive of Piraeus Port Organisation, commenting on the report said that despite a small deviation of figures “the port of Piraeus remains Europe’s largest passenger port”.
Sources: ekathimerini, capital