Turkey's Yilport Holding signed a concession agreement with Port Network Authority of the Ionian Sea (PNAIS), the managing institution of the Port of Taranto in Italy for the multipurpose terminal.
The deal was signed on 30 July 2019, at Castello Aragonese in Taranto, Italy by Robert Yuksel Yildirim, Yilport Holding Chairman, and Sergio Prete, the President of Taranto Port Authority.
The agreement appoints Yilport to undertake all operations at the multipurpose terminal of Taranto Port for 49 years.
This is the 22nd marine port in Yilport Holding’s portfolio, and its first terminal in Italy. The company, ranked 12th among international container terminal operators by Drewry, targets to be ranked among the top 10 by 2025.
Chairman Robert Yuksel Yildirim said: “We have a strong presence in the Mediterranean. We are in Malta and operate seven ports between Spain and Portugal. Being able to enter Italy and work here in Taranto is like filling in the missing piece of a puzzle that we are building globally."
"The infrastructure was there but there was no one to take care of it. Our intention is to create another success story in Taranto. From today until the end of this year, we will be fixing cranes to ramp up business, visiting potential customers, and promote the container terminal. The project also aims to cooperate with local operators to improve cargo and ro-ro traffic,” he added.
Taranto Container Terminal will offer container operations under Yilport’s expertise. The terminal offers high-level productivity on 1 million square meters’ land area. Easy access to highway network, and 5 active rail platforms connect Port of Taranto directly to the national railway system.
The terminal is also eligible to serve up to Post-Panamax sized container vessels with -16.5 meters draft. The terminal will offer 160,000 square meters of CFS and Empty Container Services area, providing stuffing, stripping, inspection, M&R, PTI, sweeping, cleaning, and empty container inspection and conditioning.