Union blames Cosco for MSC exit
Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s second-largest operator of container ships, is withdrawing transit cargo operations from Piraeus Port as a result of a concession deal the port made with Cosco Pacific Ltd, the dock workers’ labor union said yesterday. MSC’s departure is a direct result of the agreement with Cosco and will have negative financial implications for the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), the union added. MSC, Piraeus’s largest customer, is believed to have canceled its exclusive deal with Piraeus for transit cargo on Thursday. Press reports, citing unnamed senior government sources, said yesterday that the move was expected and that MSC is seeking to renegotiate the terms of its cooperation with OLP in a bid to make them more favorable.
