Mersin Port

completed

Mersin Port is one of Turkey’s largest and oldest existing container and general cargo ports, located in Mersin in the south eastern part of Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The port has been in operation for over 50 years and its operations were taken over by Mersin International Port (MIP or the Client) in 2007. MIP is owned by a consortium of PSA International (the largest global container terminal operator by equity TEUs) and Akfen Holding, a large Turkish infrastructure investment company, and was awarded the right to operate the port for a 36 year period on behalf of the Turkish Government. All areas of the port come under the responsibility of MIP (as port operator) Current port capacity has reached 1.8 million Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and the annual container throughput in 2012 was 1,263 million TEUs. The port currently also handles about 7.1 million tons of general cargo per annum. MIP serves all trading regimes including import, export, transit, transshipment and cabotage and is the main industrial and agricultural port for the eastern Mediterranean Region. The port has existing rail and highway access.The consortium is looking to expand its terminal cargo handling capacity to 2.2 million TEUs to respond to changing market needs and is currently considering issuing a Eurobond to finance the associated $126 million capital expenditure program. IFC is considering providing up to US$75 million for its own account in the event the Company issues a Eurobond. The expansion is planned to cater for growth and to accommodate larger container vessels of up to 13,500 TEUs. It will involve an additional berth, to be operational by early 2015, comprising a 479 m berth of 15.5 m depth, four 23-row quay cranes, 8 ERTGs (Electrified, Rubber-Tired Gantry cranes), 3 empty container handlers and 15 container trucks.The current port has an area of 110 ha; the upgrade requires an extension of an existing berth, with a width of 140 m, as well as a berth depth increase from 11 m to 15.5 m (involving dredging). The widening will involve introduction of fill material to extend the berth seawards within the existing harbor breakwater. The port has a number of tenants, including a vegetable oil company, grain storage company, soda ash facility and a petrol station.