Chinese firm to develop new deep water port in Nova Scotia

Harbor-Port Development Partners has partnered with China Communications Construction Company to plan, design and build a container terminal in Sydney, Nova Scotia contingent on a feasibility study of the project.

   A Chinese construction company has agreed to build a highly automated container terminal in Sydney, Nova Scotia if a study finds it is feasible.
   Harbor-Port Development Partners (HPDP) said Tuesday that it has come to an agreement with China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) to discuss arrangements related to the design, construction and ownership of the marine container terminal, as part of the deep water port development project in Sydney.
   “CCCC plans to undertake the design and construction of Sydney’s container terminal including all required infrastructure,” the companies said in a joint press release. “In addition, CCCC will provide container cranes, gantries and other port related equipment, including any required design and engineering.”
   CCCC describes itself as the “largest port construction and design company in China, a leading company in road and bridge construction and design, a leading railway construction company, the largest dredging company in China and the second largest dredging company (in terms of dredging capacity) in the world. CCCC is also the world’s largest container crane manufacturer.”
   The company said it posted combined revenues of $70 billion in 2014.
   “Concurrently, CCCC will undertake a feasibility study on the development of the overall container terminal, and define the development plan for this facility to be located on the greenfield site,” the companies said, calling the plan a “billion dollar plus multi-year project.”
   “We welcome a Chinese consortium joining our Canadian team and look forward to working with CCCC in building out our super-hub in Sydney,” said Albert Barbusci, chief executive officer of Harbor-Port Development Partners.
   Cape Breton Regional Municipality has recently officially granted HPDP the exclusive right to market the port of Sydney for development, including building the financial and operating consortium to construct a state of the art container terminal and logistic park able to accommodate the latest generation of ultra-large container vessels.
   Both Sydney and the nearby Melford International Terminal on the strait of Canso are terminals that have previously been proposed in Nova Scotia to accommodate the large containerships that are expected to call the East Coast in increasing numbers in years to come.
   Melford is being planned by Maher Terminals, the company that built the Fairview container terminal in Prince Rupert on the West Coast of Canada. That business was recently sold to DP World.