PSA Halifax has purchased Ceres Halifax Inc from NYK. Ceres has been the terminal operator at Fairview cove since the terminal opened in 1982, with 2 twenty year leases on the terminal. As a result of the purchase, Fairview Cove will retain its name, and the south end terminal will now be known as the Atlantic Hub.
The planned acquisition was previously revealed in a December 2021 competition bureau filing.
Historically there was some competition for carriers between Ceres and Halterm. When Ceres began operating Fairview Cove in 1982, the company’s founder Chris Kritikos was successful in bringing ACL and Hapag-Lloyd to the new Ceres terminal by offering better rates then Halterm. Ceres first year in operation at the Port of Halifax saw the terminal handle 55% of the Ports total volume. To this day, almost 40 years later, both ACL and Hapag Lloyd both still call at Ceres Fairview Cove, though ACL did switch back to Halterm for a period.
Ceres Terminals was acquired by Japanese shipping company NYK in 2002. That year Ceres renewed it lease on the terminal for another 20 years, ending in 2022.
The release indicates that PSA will be rationalizing terminal use with a goal of reducing truck traffic – likely smaller ships and RO-RO will begin to call at Fairview cove – I expect to see Oceanex make the move.
