COSCO is still looking to invest in a Mediterranean port as it plans to up its annual cargo volume to 800,000 TEU by 2010, raising the need for its own port in the region to deal with the growing transshipment trade.

This comes after representatives from the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) earlier confirmed that the body has been holding talks on Cosco becoming a stakeholder in the port, Xinhua reports.

As the largest port in Greece, the Piraeus handles 60 per cent of Greece's sea freight. Industrial action by Greek maritime workers last year effectively derailed a plan by PPA's biggest shareholder, the Greek government, to sell its 74.1 per cent stake in the facility. The government is now looking to sell in April.

Cosco Pacific's management recently revealed that the company plans to invest US$400 million on ports in 2007, more than double the amount budgeted last year. This is in line with plans to add another 20 terminals/berths around the world to its portfolio, which stands at 123 berths globally, between now and the end of the decade.

Cosco Pacific is also considering a move to sell its 49 per cent stake in the logistics side of the business to its parent company, in order to focus on port and terminal operations.

Cosco operates 34 container berths in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenzhen, the US and Italy through its subsidiary Cosco Pacific, handling 13 million TEU annually. According to Drewry Shipping Consultants, Cosco is ranked the world's eighth largest port operator.