Hanjin Pacific and APM Terminals reach agreement on future of Kaohsiung Terminal

Hanjin Pacific Corporation (HPC), a terminal subsidiary of Hanjin Shipping, and APM Terminals, the independent port operating division of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, announced they have entered into an agreement in which Hanjin Pacific will take over APM Terminals facilities at Piers 76 and 77 in Kaohsiung and combine them into Hanjin current operations at Pier 78. To ensure the smooth transition, with no disruptions to service, the two companies will cooperate for three months. On May 7th, 2010, Hanjin will take over the management and operations of the consolidated facilities. Financial details on the transaction were not made public.

The move has been approved by the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau (KHB) and is in line with its Port Master Plan to integrate container terminal operations at Kaohsiung.

GS Choi, CEO of Hanjin Pacific Corporation and Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Terminal Business Unit of Hanjin Shipping added, Hanjin Shipping and Hanjin Pacific are pleased to announce the expansion of our facilities at Kaohsiung. Over the next few months, the newly expanded Hanjin Pacific terminal will be gearing up to serve some of the most important shipping lines in the world, including Maersk Line.

The new operations at Kaohsiung will be fully operational by the second quarter of 2010 and will double the handling capacity of existing HPC services. We are also quite excited about our new state-of-the-art terminal operations system that is being implemented by Cyberlogitec, driving new levels of efficiency in the physical operations on the terminal by Hanjin Pacific Corp., Hanjin Shipping terminal subsidiary.

Martin Gaard Christiansen, Chief Executive Officer for APM Terminals Asia Pacific region stated, For APM Terminals this move is a clear result of the more proactive way we currently are looking at optimizing our Global Terminal Network. The facility in Kaohsiung has served us well and we have been pleased with the support of the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau (KHB) throughout our association.

Market conditions have changed and we have decided business-wise it makes sense to transfer our Kaohsiung Pier 76-77 location to Hanjin. This will complement their existing facility well and also satisfy the port master plan to better integrate Kaohsiung terminal facilities.<Korea Shipping Gazette>