A subsidiary of CMA CGM has taken over the running of Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) in Jamaica as per a deal struck in April 2015, according to The Gleaner.
Kingston Freeport Terminal Ltd (KFTL) starts a 30-year concession agreed with the Port Authority of Jamaica.
Under the deal, which follows the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, KFTL will finance, develop and expand the terminal before handing it back to the Port Authority in what is effectively a 30-year privatization.
CMA CGM paid $510m for the concession and is expected to invest at least another $600m in improvement which will include dredging and deepening Kingston Harbour so it can receive larger vessels, strengthening quay walls, installing bigger and more efficient ship-to-shore cranes and adding 1,200 metres of berth space.
KFTL intends the upgrades to position Kingston well as a Caribbean transshipment port that can prosper from the recent Panama Canal expansion.
In one of its first actions on taking control, KFTL laid off all the 800-plus employees of KCT while offering to re-employ all eligible workers.
