The German government is re-evaluating its decision to allow Chinese state-owned COSCO entry into one of the container terminals at its largest port in Hamburg.
Hong Kong-listed terminal operator COSCO Shipping Ports was given the green light to acquire a 24.9% stake in Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA)’s container terminal in Tollerort last October.
In January, HHLA said that the final details of the deal still had to be clarified, but that the transaction should be finalised soon.
However, in the meantime, the Tollerort terminal had been classified as critical infrastructure by the Federal Office for Information Security, and Berlin needs to reassess the deal.
“Since the circumstances have changed, we are examining the consequences,” a spokesperson for the German economy ministry told reporters at a briefing this week.
COSCO had planned to take a 35% stake in the terminal, but the deal fell through after several ministries expressed concerns about critical infrastructure falling into foreign hands. The compromised deal to buy a 24.9% stake would see COSCO not gain any exclusive rights to the terminal or access to strategic know-how.
HHLA spokesperson told Splash that the registration of its Hamburg container terminals as critical infrastructure was discussed with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) at the end of 2022 and they were registered at the beginning of 2023.
“The registration of Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) does not result in any significant change for HHLA. The HHLA Group has already been classified as critical infrastructure since 2018 and has aligned itself accordingly. Since then, the company has already been fully complying with the associated obligations regarding the security of the IT infrastructure.
“The operational management of the terminal, all customer relationships and the IT systems are controlled centrally by the HHLA Group. As an operating subsidiary, CTT is thus a user of the HHLA Group’s own internal IT. Accordingly, COSCO Shipping Ports would not gain any access or decision-making rights here – and neither with regard to the terminal’s ground,” the spokesperson said.
Commenting on the news via LinkedIn, Lars Jensen, who heads up container advisory Vespucci Maritime, said Chinese companies will increasingly be placed under scrutiny for port infrastructure investments notably in Europe and the US. And this, he suggested, is likely to be reciprocated.
“This in turn can create new market opportunities for companies unaffiliated with either China or the US or Europe,” Jensen said, listing brands such as PSA, DP World, and ICTSI.
