BUILT ON MISCONCEPTIONS

摘要

The new Zagreb Container Terminal, under development in Rijeka, Croatia, is currently experiencing a dispute over the award of construction works relating to allied rail facilities, including the new intermodal yard. More concerning, however, is the issue of proven need for the project over the short to medium term at least. The quay construction is nearly complete and the process for the public procurement for road D403 is underway. But some serious misconceptions remain regarding the demand scenario for such a facility - to the point where the question has to be asked: was the project initiated without a comprehensive market study in place to analyse in-depth future demand and other critical related issues? The European Commission website gives details of the project, describing it as a €350m project and states that "the container traffic of...Rijeka port was increased from 15,000 to over 200,000 containers in only a few years". This is simply not true. It took around 20 years for the port of Rijeka to achieve a throughput of 200,000 teu (not containers) by 2017.