Oslo,
14/07/10: Port of Oslo has chosen the Turkish logistics and industrial
company Yilport Holding as the new container terminal operator in Oslo.
The
company won a competition in which four other international companies
were bidders. The new operator will take over the operation of the
container traffic in the port of Oslo late 2014 or early 2015. The
agreement has a term of 20 years, but an option is in place for a 10
year extension to this.
Yilport Holding is part of the
international family-run industrial and trade company Yildirim Group,
which is based in Istanbul, Turkey. The company, established in 1963, is
engaged in manufacturing and mining, trade, shipping, shipbuilding and
port operations. The company has 8,000 employees. Yilport Holding
operates two container terminals in Turkey and has a 50% stake in Malta
Freeport Terminal. In 2014, they took over the operation of Gävle
Container Terminal, one of the most effectively run container terminals
in Sweden.
- We have chosen the international company Yilport
Holding because we believe that they are the best choice to operate and
develop the largest and most modern container terminal in Norway. The
Port of Oslo aims to be a competitive and efficient port for the future.
Our goal is to receive twice as much cargo as we do today, in order to
supply an ever-growing population in the Oslo area. Yilport Holding was
selected based on both economic and commercial criteria, says Port
Director Anne Sigrid Hamran.
The new company will lease space and
cranes from the Port of Oslo. The operator will also hold employer
responsibility for the crane operators, which until now have been
employed by the Port Authority.
The Port Authority Board decided
on 24 October 2013 that the crane operators shall be transferred to the
new terminal operator through a business transfer. When the operator
gets a unified responsibility for all operations and the staff at the
terminal, a more efficient and smooth operation of the terminal is
expected...
- The efficiency of terminals and their optimal
organization are essential to ensure that more cargo is transported by
sea. We anticipate that collaboration will be easier when terminal
employees and crane operators have one employer only. This way of
organizing the workforce at the terminal is considered to be vital for
the competitiveness and effectiveness of the port. We acknowledge that
obtaining a new employer can be experienced as an uncertain and
challenging situation by our employees. We would like to stress that the
new operator has a policy of hiring local terminal managers. Moreover,
we have stressed in the negotiation process that the operator must
comply with Norwegian law generally, not least Norwegian labour laws,
says Anne Sigrid Hamran.
The dock workers at Oslo loading- and unloading office are not covered by the agreement with the new operator.
