Feature: Chinese-managed Piraeus port continues to grow at rapid pace, as new milestone nears

The Chinese-managed part of Piraeus port continues to grow at an impressive, rapid pace under COSCO's subsidiary Piraeus Port Terminal (PCT) management in recent years as a new milestone nears, according to the latest data presented to a group of visitors at Greece's largest port on Friday.

As the Greek parliament is expected to ratify in coming weeks the sale to COSCO of the 67 percent shares stake in state- owned Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) which still manages Pier I, PCT races full ahead to launch by August 2016 the first pilot phase operations in the West division of Pier III, currently under construction, top managers told prominent visitors and Xinhua during a tour at the premises.

Once again since PCT took over the operations of Pier II and Pier III in autumn 2009 under a 35-year concession agreement, PCT is expected to deliver well ahead of the initial timetables, Angelos Karakostas, PCT Deputy General Manager, told Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli, his wife and an "all female" group of visitors during an event organized by the Chinese Embassy to Greece and PCT on the occasion of the International Women's Day.

Under the terms of the contract PCT has signed, the Western Pier III should be completed by 2021, Karakostas explained to Evi Flambouraris, the wife of Greek State Minister Alekos Flambouraris, women ambassadors and the spouses of foreign ambassadors accredited to Greece.

PCT aims to complete 70 percent of works at the Western Pier III by August this year and 100 percent by November 2017, Karakostas noted giving one more example of the fast transformation of Piraeus port under the Chinese management.

Pier III is being constructed from scratch, after the expansion and upgrading of Pier II by PCT. The East Division of Pier III is already in operation far earlier ahead of schedule and the West Division -- where works began in early 2015 -- is quickly taking its final shape.

By 2020 PCT officials expect that Piraeus' cargo handling capacity will reach some 6.3 million TEUs (twenty feet container unit) per year, making Piraeus the largest port in terminal capacity in the Mediterranean.

Currently Piraeus ranks third in the Mediterranean and is among the top ten in Europe, according to Lloyd's list for the top container ports.

In 2008, before PCT started its operations at Piraeus, PPA handled about 500,000 TEUs of cargo.

According to plans, the target for 2016 is for PCT to handle at least 3.3 million TEUs, PCT managers told guests on Friday, as workers were transferring containers from giant cargo ships using high cranes on big lorries.

"Four large container ships can dock at Pier II and Pier III at the same time; Nine cargo trains transfer containers to central Europe every week ," Karakostas said.

COSCO's investment at Piraeus is the first major Chinese investment in Greece. Friday's event was held a few days after Greece's supreme administrative court, the Court of Audit, cleared the way for the acquisition of the majority stake of PPA by the Chinese company which won an international tender earlier this year.

Sino-Greek collaboration at Piraeus port in recent years has been praised by officials of both sides and the local business community and experts as a great success story in bilateral ties in difficult times for Greece amid an acute debt crisis since late 2009.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Zou stressed that confidence, mutual trust and cooperation are the foundations of recovery of Greece, China and the global economy.

"As long as we work together we believe the port of Piraeus, Greece, China and the whole region will have a better future," he said.

His view was echoed by visitors at PCT's premises on Friday.

"I am impressed with the level of organization here. I believe this investment will help very much the Sino-Greek cooperation in terms of employment for Greek people and the overall collaboration will help this area and the wider region," Panayiota Meletiou, wife of the mayor of the nearby Aspropyrgos municipality, told Xinhua.

Currently some 1,250 Greeks are employed at PCT in a country suffering from record high unemployment rates.

The example of the Sino-Greek collaboration at Piraeus port inspires other countries to also deepen their cooperation with Greece and China.

"After what we have seen here, the win-win cooperation between Greece and China, I will pass the information to Vietnam and maybe a Vietnamese shipping company will also come here and invest," Vietnamese Ambassador to Greece Tran Thi Ha Phuong told Xinhua after the tour.

"I am impressed about the shipping activity in this area. It is one of the main ports in Europe and I can see directly the level of efficiency and effectiveness of this port and I am sure that means a very successful story in cooperation between China and Greece," Chile's Ambassador to Greece Maria Pia Busta Diaz, commented. Endit