EMEA News
Chinese Investment to Triple Piraeus Throughput
China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) has closed a deal with the Piraeus Port Authority to invest €230 million ($311 million) at the port, turning it into one of the leading Mediterranean Sea ports, according to the Turkish Reporter.
"The COSCO investment, which was opposed more fiercely than any other in the past, will bring huge benefits to our country, and today we double the amount of the investment with a further 230 million Euros," said Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis.
"The agreement seals the transition of the port of Piraeus into a new era, as this is the largest investment in crisis-stricken Greece."
COSCO plans to build or update several terminals at the port.
The deal will triple the port's cargo handling capacity to 6.2 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU) over the next seven years, Port Technology International reported in September, before the deal was officially approved.
COSCO has managed the port since 2008, and Greece has been privatising national assets since 2012 in an effort to pay off debt.
