Date:21/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/08/21/stories/2006082100330602.htm

Back Berthing abroad

Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) is mulling acquisition of berths in foreign ports and sent a team recently to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium to explore the possibility of investing in it, according to reports in Shipping Gazette. The Zeebrugge trip was believed to have been undertaken at the insistence of Maersk, the Dutch shipping giant that started operating a container terminal in the Belgian port from May. Analysts however feel that the visit to Zeebrugee could at best be symbolic for SIPG as Maersk, even if SIPG proposes to operate with the Dutch giant, is unlikely to part with the majority stake to the Chinese firm. Besides, owning a minority stake in a terminal would mean little to SIPG's overall operation. Zeebrugee, Belgium's second largest, handled 1.4 million TEUs in 2005, approximately less than one-sixth of SIPG's throughput last year.

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