Piraeus to get busier
It was smiles all round yesterday as Wei Jiafu, president and CEO of Cosco (r), met with Economy Minister Louka Katseli (c) in Athens. Wei, on a four-day visit to Greece, said Cosco’s three partners in the CKYH Alliance will make Piraeus port their main entry point into Europe for cargo from Asia. ‘Piraeus will be our primary port, not only for Cosco, but also for the alliance,’ Wei said. The alliance, which comprises Cosco, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp and Hanjin Shipping Co, will ship containers to Piraeus where they will be transferred for onward distribution to other Mediterranean ports, Wei said, adding that the move will boost container traffic at Piraeus, with the alliance’s aim to reach 800,000 containers this year. Cosco won a tender last year to run container operations at Piraeus’s Pier II and to build and run a new Pier III. The port handled over 660,000 containers in 2009. Wei also met with President Karolos Papoulias yesterday and is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister George Papandreou tomorrow.
