Freeport handles more containers

During the first six months of the year, the number of containers handled by the Malta Freeport has increased at a steady rate, despite the departure of the Grand Alliance shipping line.

A spokesman for the Freeport said yesterday that figures show more activity compared with the same period last year.

"In fact, the Freeport handled 613,000 containers compared to 563,000 during the same period last year. This increase is particularly significant in that 2001 was already a record-breaking year for the Freeport."

The increase of 50,000 containers handled over six months was significant for another reason: "It took place at a time when the client portfolio underwent substantial upheavals. Grand Alliance, a major container shipping company, shifted its business to Gioia Tauro, the Freeport's main commercial rival in Italy.

"Since the shift, however, the Freeport continued to handle some of Alliance's business due to problems they encountered at Gioia Tauro. Soon after the departure of the Grand Alliance from the Freeport, a new consortium made up of the Taiwanese carrier Yang Ming and the Japanese carrier 'K' Line started to pass their container traffic through the Freeport."

In the highly competitive transhipment market in the Mediterranean, high productivity and efficiency levels are indispensable to the success of a freeport.

To continue achieving these two goals, the Freeport has introduced an innovative incentive scheme which rewards staff. Recently, Spiridione Giordmaina, a quay-crane operator, was officially recognised for being the most productive, the spokesman said.

A delegation of Freeport employees and port workers had meetings with clients in Hamburg, London and Marseilles recently to discuss customers' expectations from a transhipment hub like the Freeport.