MAERSK BUYS OUT MINORITY SHAREHOLDER IN ROTTERDAM TERMINAL

MAERSK BUYS OUT MINORITY SHAREHOLDER IN ROTTERDAM TERMINAL    Maersk Benelux, an affiliate of the A.P. Moller group, has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 33-percent shareholding in the Rotterdam container terminal Maersk Delta B.V. from its former partner, Europe Combined Terminals.
   The A.P. Moller group, which already had a two-thirds shareholding in the Dutch terminal, will then assume 100-percent ownership of the facility, located in the Maasvlakte area of the port of Rotterdam.
   The Danish group said that Maersk Delta is associated with APM Terminals, the global container terminal operating arm of A.P. Moller.
   The modern Maersk Delta container terminal, opened in October 2001, features 900 meters of continuous berth, a yard area of    400,000 square meters and six “super-post-Panamax” gantry cranes. The terminal expects to handle about 500,000 moves in 2001.
   A spokesman for APM Terminals said that Maersk Sealand will continue to call at the Rotterdam container terminal and there are no operational changes.
   Europe Combined Terminals, the dominant container terminal operator in the port of Rotterdam, was recently acquired by the Hutchison Port Holdings group. The sale of Europe Combined Terminals’ share in Maersk Delta follows a recent commitment made by the Hutchison group to the European Commission that it would allow independent competitors in the port of Rotterdam.