A spokesman for ECT, owned by Hong Kong-listed Hutchinson Whampoa unit Hutchinson Port Holdings, said Rotterdam port, Europe's biggest, was not sticking to its expansion plans.
"The problem is that there will be new land available and the new terminals are coming online very soon and we think this will lead to a lot of overcapacity," ECT spokesman Rob Bagchus said.
Rotterdam port said ECT wanted compensation of 900 million euros if its demands were not met -- ECT wants Rotterdam to delay the opening of terminal operations at a new port area called Maasvlakte 2 and to cancel the cost of widening a port channel ECT uses.
"The Port Authority is not concerned regarding the outcome of this lawsuit. The Port Authority and its legal advisors are convinced that, over the years, they have always operated correctly with respect to ECT," the port said.
APM Terminals, part of Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, and Rotterdam World Gateway Consortium, a group led by Dubai port operator DP World , will start construction of container terminals soon, the port said.
"The Port Authority is averse to market control. The Port Authority will not and cannot protect businesses against market forces," the port said.
ECT also has an option for an area on the Maasvlakte 2, the Rotterdam port said. ECT owns more than half of the container capacity at the Rotterdam Port, which is owned by the city of Rotterdam and the Dutch state. (Reuters)
