The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners will weigh an offer to purchase the largest container terminal at the Port of Long Beach (POLB), with Terminal Investment Limited (TIL) offering to take over a majority stake in a long-term lease. The offer comes in the wake of Hanjin Shipping’s August declaration of bankruptcy, which continues to affect the POLB’s cargo traffic.
Hanjin Shipping is the world’s seventh-largest shipping company.
“We welcome the industry’s interest in Long Beach’s Pier T. As our largest terminal, it’s a remarkable asset, with an important role in handling the cargo that sustains so many jobs in Long Beach and the region,” said Board of Harbor Commissioners President Lori Ann Guzmán in a statement. “If the Board approves this agreement, we look forward to working with our industry partners to continue improving and modernizing the Port of Long Beach.”
Terminal Investment Limited is a subsidiary of the Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), and announced earlier this week that it had signed an agreement to purchase Hanjin Shipping’s stake in the terminal operator at Pier T, according to the port.
During Hanjin’s lease of the terminal, Total Terminals International (TTI), its terminal operating company, had signed a 25-year lease to operate Pier T. In 2013, MSC purchased a share of the Total Terminals lease. If the offer is accepted tonight, MSC will have sole control of the lease, requiring installation of two new cranes capable of handling container ships with capacities of 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The meeting will be broadcast live at 6:00PM. The agenda is available here.