Suez Canal box terminal to double size

Suez Canal box terminal to double size Suez Canal Container Terminal will nearly double in capacity under an expansion plan agreed to today in Egypt.
   The terminal, which began operating in 2004 and has a capacity of 2.55 million TEUs, will be expanded to 5.1 million TEUs by 2011. Employment, currently at 1,250, is also expected to double. When completed, the terminal will have 24 super post-Panamax cranes capable of reaching across 22 rows of containers.
   Terminal and government officials in Egypt signed an agreement to allow the expansion to proceed.
   The terminal is 60 percent owned by the APM Terminals arm of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and 40 percent owned by an Egyptian public-private partnership.
   The terminal is a leading transshipment center, located at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. That location makes it attractive to ocean carriers passing through the canal and connecting to feeder ships calling at ports in the East Mediterranean and Black Sea.