International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has paid $5.8 million for the remaining 10 percent of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) it doesn’t own that was held by Anglo Ports.
ICTSI now fully controls VICT, who in 2014 signed a $509m agreement to design, build, commission, operate, maintain and finance the Port of Melbourne’s new international container terminal.
The new container terminal is part of Melbourne’s us$1.5 billion port capacity project, which the port believes is vital for economic growth in the Australian state of Victoria.
Meanwhile, Basra Gateway Terminal (BGT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICTSI Inc., said operations at the Port of Umm Qasr in Iraq are now in full swing.
ICTSI signed a concession, located in the North Port of Umm Qasr, with Iraqi port authority The General Company for Ports in Iraq (GCPI) in April 2014.
BGT chief executive Phillip Marsham said that his company is attracting plenty of interest from container lines and has enjoyed a good pace of cargo buildup since it opened the doors after full takeover in November 2014.
BGT plans to upgrade the existing facilities at Berth 20 and construct an entirely new container/multipurpose facility, with the first phase consisting of a 250-meter berth and 20 hectares of backup land.