Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer 
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (right), points in the direction of the construction work taking place to expand the Kingston Container Terminal yesterday, while Portia Simpson Miller, the Prime Minister-designate (second left); Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill and Sven Geertsen, captain of the MV Olivia Maersk (in background) look on. Mr. Patterson welcomed the Maersk which was making its first call as part of a five-year partnership which was signed last November. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE MV Olivia Maersk docked at the Kingston Container Terminal yesterday, the first in that shipping line's five-year agreement with the Jamaican Government to use the local port as a major trans-shipment port.
The ship's crew including captain Sven Geertsen of Denmark, was given a tour of the port along with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister-designate Portia Simpson Miller and Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) President, Noel Hylton.
Mr. Patterson signed a five-year agreement with Maersk , the largest shipping company in
the world last November. Under that agreement, the Kingston Container Terminal will become a major trans-shipment hub for the line.
Mr. Hylton told The Gleaner that the agreement with Maersk will result in major business for the local port.
"It is very significant, it is one of the biggest contracts we have had for a long time," he said. "It will involve Maersk putting at the first year 600 TEUs (20-foot equipment unit) which is about 500,000 containers every year, and probably end up at about one million TEUs at the end of five years."
FIFTH PHASE OF EXPANSION
To accommodate the increased traffic the Maersk line is expected to bring, the fifth phase of expansion at the Kingston Container Terminal is currently in progress and is expected to be completed by April.
However, Peter Ford, general manager of APM Terminals, which manages the port, said the ongoing dispute about inferior cement from the Carib Cement Company (CCC) may impact on the April deadline. There is also a shortage of cement on the market.
