THE State of Virginia has ended its consideration of three unsolicited bids from companies seeking a long-term operating concession at its state-owned Hampton Roads marine terminals, according to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton, and former head of the US Maritime Administration.

"The bids do not reflect the value of the terminals in light of the recent lease of the APM Terminals in Portsmouth," a statement from the Virginia Port Authority said.

The next step for the VPA is to conduct a review of two new bids from the Carlyle Group and a partnership between SSA Marine parent Carrix and Goldman Sachs. These unsolicited proposals come in addition to the one submitted by CenterPoint Properties Trust of Illinois in 2009.

CenterPoint executive vice president Neil Doyle told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette while on a visit to Hong Kong, that his company would revise its bid and resubmit it. "This is by no means over; we are still very interested," he said.

At present, the marine terminals are operated by Virginia International Terminals Inc, which is the VPA's private, non-stock operating company.

According to London' Containerisation International, port authorities have not ruled out privatisation in the future.

A source close to the port was cited as saying in the report that a key driver behind the VPA's decision to take on APMT's Portsmouth box terminal was to drive up the value of the overall port complex to potential bidders.

Source: Shipping Gazette