Birżebbuġa’s container port is a noisy neighbour but its direct impact on the economy will hit the €107 million mark this year, according to new research.

The study, by economist Gordon Cordina’s firm E-Cubed Consultants, found that the economic injection increased to €171 million when indirect effects were considered. The study was commissioned by Malta Freeport Terminals to coincide with the renewal of its operating licence by the government last week.

The container port, which is the third largest transhipment facility in the Mediterranean, is also expected to generate 954 jobs by the end of this year, according to the study. This rises to 1,747 jobs when indirect jobs, such as those of stevedores, are considered.

The container port is also expected to generate 954 jobs by the end of this year

The report noted that in 2015, the Freeport’s direct and indirect economic effect was valued at €158 million, equivalent to 2.1% of GDP.

This economic injection was almost one-tenth of all tourism activity in Malta.

Malta Freeport Terminals was granted a 30-year extension to its concession, which would have expired in 2039, after it fulfilled conditions set out in the licence agreement of 2008. The agreement stipulated that the terminal operator would be granted an automatic 30-year extension if it handled three million containers per year, a figure reached in 2015.

Last year, the terminal handled 3.1 million TEUs, an industry standard to measure container capacity.

Cargo handled by Malta Freeport has posted significant gains since 2005, the first full year after the port was privatised. Back then, the terminal handled 1.3 million TEUs, increasing by 132 per cent 10 years later to reach the three million mark.

In 2015, the company handled around 2,127 container vessel calls with a net tonnage of over 40 million. The 2015 growth rate for cargo handled at the port stood at 6.8 per cent.

According to the study, the company invested more than €247 million in the terminal after it was privatised in 2004 to French shipping line CMA CGM.

In 2011, CMA CGM transferred half of its shares to the Yildirim Group of Turkey and, two years later, sold a 40 per cent interest in port operator Terminal Link to China Merchants Holdings.

Birżebbuġa residents have often complained of excessive noise coming from the terminal and even opposed its extension.