OOIL plans terminal operations

Chinese carrier to lead purchase of OOIL for US$6.3 billion, creating the world’s third largest carrier group in the process.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has approved the sale of New Jersey’s largest container terminal operation after the parties involved in the deal agreed to provide US$136M to improve the facilities. As reported in the March 2007 issue of WorldCargo News (p1), Maher Terminals, which operates the largest common-user container terminal in the US at Port Elizabeth in New Jersey, has been sold to RREEF Alternative Investments, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank.

Container throughput at China’s northern port of Tianjin rose by 21% to a record 3.36M TEU in the first half of this year. An official at the stateowned operator Tianjin Port Group (TPG) said that at the current rate of growth, the port will hit its target of handling 7M TEU this year.

Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) of Hong Kong is among companies reported to be interested in developing Terminal 2 at Roberts Bank near Vancouver, according to Patrick McLaughlin, director of planning and development for the Vancouver Port Authority.

Hong Kong’s Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) has sold its four container terminals in North America to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) of Canada for US$2.35B in cash. OTPP will also assume US$60M of the terminal division’s debt, OOIL said.

Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL), parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line, has started the second round of bidding for its North American container terminals (see WorldCargo News July 2006, p6).