Yilport in running to take over Long Beach terminal

   Yilport, the fast-growing port operator from Turkey, has confirmed that it is one of the finalists seeking to become the operator of the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT), one of the nation’s largest and most automated terminals.
   A spokesman for Yilport confirmed a report that his company is one of the companies seeking to become an operator of the terminal that has been leased by Orient Overseas International Ltd., the parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line, from the Port of Long Beach. The terminal was expanded and automated  by the port and OOIL in recent years. Capable of serving the largest containerships calling the U.S. West Coast, its container yard features automated stacking cranes and automated guided vehicles.
    When OOCL was acquired last year by COSCO China Shipping, the U.S. government, as part of the approval process overseen by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, required the company to put LBCT up for sale.
   Long Beach Container Terminal has negotiations with dozens of companies, but has narrowed the field to three companies.
   OOIL released its 2018 financial results on Monday and said last year it “saw a strong performance from our terminal in Long Beach, California. The second phase of the terminal has now been operational for a year, and all those carefully planned designs using the latest technology and the most environmentally friendly techniques have been proven to bear fruit. It is public knowledge that we are required to sell our interest in the Long Beach terminal, and we expect to be able to do this within the coming months.”
   Meanwhile, Yilport said it is continuing negotiations with the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport about possibly operating terminals there.