News / MSC plans to develop new box terminal at Aarhus angers APMT

Photo: Port of Aarhus

MSC’s port operating subsidiary, Terminal Investment Ltd (TIL), has signed a deal with the port authority of Aarhus to develop a new container terminal at Denmark’s largest port.

The faciality will be located in the port’s Ominterminal area, the port authority said, where TIL will lease approximately 170,000sq metres to “establish and operate their own container terminal”.

The Omniterminal, pictured below, courtesy of Aarhus port authority, is a two-phase development, with the infrastructure of the first phase built and the second due to be completed over the next two years.

Photo: Port of Aarhus

“The terminal is expected to be fully developed by 2027, at which time MSC Group and TiL will be able to start using the area,” the port authority said.

“Port of Aarhus offers a good location for the future network plans we have made,” added MSC CEO Søren Toft.

“We will be introducing a direct mainliner between Asia and Aarhus next year and, in combination with our own terminal, we can provide our customers with a practical logistics solution.

“In the longer term, we are looking at other routes that could have a positive impact on Danish business and we will consider further investment when new areas are developed at the port of Aarhus,” he added.

Following the break-up of the Maersk-MSC 2M partnership next February and concurrent launch of MSC’s standalone network and the Maersk-Hapag Lloyd Gemini Cooperation, MSC is expected to be the sole shipping line to offer a direct call at Aarhus on the Asia-North Europe trade, via its Swan service.

Currently the port’s sole direct Asia-North Europe call is offered on the 2M’s AE5/Albatross string, while the Gemini partners plan to service Aarhus through a weekly Wilhelmshaven-Bremerhaven-Aarhus loop, with Asian imports to Denmark transhipped at the German hubs.

“We are pleased that MSC Group and TiL see Aarhus as an attractive port and are now choosing to invest in establishing a container terminal,” said Port of Aarhus CEO Thomas Haber Borch.

“This provides businesses with more opportunities to trade with the world, strengthens our competitiveness and reinforces our role in ensuring Danish supply to the benefit of businesses and Denmark,” he added.

However, as explored in Loadstar Premium last week, the deal may still be subject to a legal challenge launched by Aarhus’ current container terminal operator, APM Terminals, which has reportedly filed an injunction in a local court to temporarily prevent the entrance of a second operator to the port. It claims its agreement with the port authority included a lease-right which gives the Maersk-owned affiliate a first right of refusal on any new development, and alleges that the port authority’s discussions with other terminal operators happened without due process.

Volumes have largely stagnated at Aarhus since the pandemic gave it a considerable boost. Its 2021 throughput hit 718,000 teu, a 21% jump over 2020. The following year, volumes continued to climb, to 760,000 teu, but fell back to 674,000 teu in 2023, prompting fears in the port that it was losing market share – particularly in its key Danish hinterland.

Meanwhile, the port authority also has plans to develop a dry port to cement its offer to Danish importers and exporters, which a port authority spokesman told The Loadstar, was not connected to today’s MSC announcement.