Liner shipping giant MSC expands its busin[ds_preview]ess with partly-owned container terminals and inaugurates the Viau facility in Canada‘s port Montreal.
The number 2 of global container carriers now opened the new facility on the St. Lawrence, which is a joint venture with the Port of Motreal Authority and Termont Montreal. It was realized with a contribution of the government in Ottawa. MSC is said to be the principl line calling the terminal, currently operating four weekly services to and out of Montreal.
Viau is supposed to »make the global movement of goods more fluid, create direct and indirect jobs in transportation systems across the country, contribute to national prosperity and help grow the middle class«, the port authority stated. According to the JV partners, the terminal will boost the capacity by 450,000 TEUs. Together with the second phase of work to be completed in the years to come, it will have a total handling capacity in the Viau sector to 600,000 TEUs, and the Port of Montréal’s overall handling capacity to 2.1 million TEUs.
The construction of the new terminal is part of a broader port capacity optimization project covering three areas: the terminal’s container-handling capacity, marine access and road access. The Government of Canada is contributing a third of the eligible funding for all three project components to a maximum of $ 44 million under the National Infrastructure Component of the New Building Canada Fund. Of this amount, up to $27.2 million is available to fund the new container terminal. The remainder of the funding will be attributed to the project’s other two components.
»The new Viau terminal will generate significant benefits for the region, province and country as whole with annual spinoffs of $340 million and the creation of 2,500 direct and indirect jobs.«
Sylvia Vachon, CEO of Montreal Port Authority
The Port of Montréal describes itself as the second-largest container port in Canada and the fifth largest on the east coast of North America. It is the only container-handling port in Quebec and Ontario. One in four shipping containers handled in Canada passes through this key trading hub. »It is the most direct intermodal link between the industrial heartland of North America and the markets of Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, giving it a key role across the country«, the port authority says.
»The Government of Canada recognizes that port infrastructure plays a key role in supporting economic growth. In addition to making the Port of Montréal considerably more competitive, productive and effective, this project will also help to support economic growth for Canadians in the years to come«, Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, emphasizes the governments involvement.
