Transport, logistics and stevedoring firm Qube is in the running to operate Melbourne’s new container terminal
May 2, 2013
Transport, logistics and stevedoring firm Qube is in the running to operate Melbourne’s new container terminal at Webb Dock East.
Qube is the only firm on the shortlist with significant land transport interests, with the other three including consortia and individual companies focused on pure terminal operation, container shipping or finance.
French container line CMA CGM and its domestic arm, ANL, have teamed up with Macquarie Specialised Asset Management to form one consortium, while another comprises International Container Terminal Services and Anglo Ports under the banner of Australian International Container Terminals Ltd (AICTL).
The players are rounded out by Hutchison Port Holdings, which is about to start its operation in Brisbane and is developing another at Port Botany.
Shortlisted bidders, revealed by the Port of Melbourne Corporation yesterday, should have their proposals in by September, with the winner to be announced early next year.
The new facility, which is to be operational by 2016, is offered as a package comprising about 30 hectares of waterfront terminal, a utility ‘off-dock’ area and an adjoining empty container facility.
The new terminal should have a capacity of at least 1 million containers a year.
“In evaluating the bids, we are seeking innovation to deliver higher levels of operational efficiency alongside the requirements to operate a growing port in the middle of one of the nation’s largest cities,” Port of Melbourne Corporation CEO Stephen Bradford says.
“Importantly, we are also seeking commercial returns that are in line with the significance of this rare opportunity.”
Works undertaken by the corporation within the Webb Dock precinct includes new roads connecting the terminal directly to the freeway network and extending and upgrading berths.
“These works will be delivered early in the program enabling the successful bidder to expedite the fit-out and commissioning of their facility,” Bradford says.
