APM Terminals has signed agreements with COSCO Shipping Ports Limited and Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) Co., Limited for the sale of minority shares in a joint venture for APM’s operations in Vado, Italy.

According to APM, the agreement covers both the current Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal and the new deepwater terminal under construction at the Port of Vado, located in northwestern Italy. COSCO Shipping Ports will have a 40% share and Qingdao Port International Development (Hong Kong) will have a 9.9%, while APM will hold the remaining 50.1%.

“Through global partnerships and shared goals of operational excellence, there is much we can achieve together, even in the current difficult business environment,” said Kim Fejfer, CEO of APM Terminals [third from left in photo]. “And we are pleased to build upon our close relationships with COSCO Shipping Ports and the Qingdao Port Group.”

The new semi-automated terminal is scheduled to begin operations in 2018 and will be capable of handling vessels with a capacity of up to 19,000 TEUs. Upon completion, operations will be merged with adjacent reefer terminal.

COSCO Shipping Ports is already a shareholder in several operations in APM’s global terminal network, such as Suez, Zeebrugge and Qingdao, while APM and the Qingdao Port Group already have JV relationships in five container terminals in Qingdao, according to APM.