Freeport terminal expansion underway

Freeport terminal expansion underway Freeport Container Port's $250 million expansion is underway, which will include more space for operations and extensive equipment additions.
   Chris Gray, Freeport Container Port chief executive officer, told the Florida Caribbean Connection the fifth phase of expansion of the container terminal will add 500 meters of berth, 35 acres of container marshalling area, six gantry cranes and 35 straddle carriers.
   The project is expected to take two years to complete.
   Dredging work that expanded the terminal's 52-foot-deep shipping channel and berth depth has already been completed, Gray added.
   Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa operates the terminal under the jurisdiction of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, which is a privately held landlord.
   The port authority has been under a cloud of controversy this year as its two shareholders, Sir Jack Hayward and the family of the late Edward St. George, have been involved in a heated and very public court battle over their joint holdings.
   Gray confirmed that Hutchison has made an offer to buy out the group, making an offer for the shares of its parent company, IC Ltd. Cayman. The group is already a 50 percent partner in other Hutchison operations in Freeport, which include the Grand Bahama Airport and the Freeport Harbor Co. Hutchison is the majority owner of the Freeport Container Port.
   Gray downplayed the significance of the proposal in comparison to the overall plans to expand Freeport container operations.
   'They are in dispute,' he said about the partner owners. 'A sale may be a way to reach a resolution.'
   He added he could not disclose the amount of the buyout offer, and predicted that any sale would take a long time to conclude. ' Jim Dow