APM Terminals revised proposal for Virginia Ports

   APM Terminals on Monday submitted a revision to its proposal to operate terminals owned by the Virginia Port Authority (VPA).
   The company, a subsidiary of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk said it was making a commitment to honor existing contracts, have non-discriminatory pricing and operational services, and significant oversight by both the VPA and an independent audit firm of its choosing.
   VPA included the pledges in an addendum to its offer that it made in May to operate the Virginia’s terminals under the state’s Public-Private Transportation Act.
   The revision follows letters from some steamship lines that raised questions about whether APM Terminals might in some way favor its sister company Maersk if it operated the port.
   Eric Sisco, the president of APM Terminals Americas, said the commitments in the company’s addendum “reflect our global business practices and we are proposing to include them as enforceable obligations in the concession agreement.” The focus of our proposal is to provide the Commonwealth with the best financial and commercial proposition to ensure the growth of Virginia’s port.”
   APM Terminals says its proposal, which includes turning over its state-ot-the-art container terminal in Portsmouth to Virginia, said to be worth between $3 billion and $4 billion.