>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769193 LB Port Acquisition article

Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

(Judicial Watch Oct 8 2019)

https://www.judicialwatch.org/corruption-chronicles/trump-rids-major-u-s-container-port-of-chinese-communist-control/

Under a long-term deal sealed by the Obama administration, a Chinese Communist company was set to control the second-busiest container port in the United States. In an unreported Trump administration victory, the Communists are out after a drawn-out national security review forced a unit of China-based COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. (Orient Overseas Container Line—OOCL) to sell the cherished container terminal business, which handles among the largest freight of imports into the U.S.

It all started with a 40-year container terminal lease between the Port of Long Beach in southern California and Hong Kong. The Obama administration proudly signed the agreement in 2012 giving China control of America’s second-largest container port behind the nearby Port of Los Angeles. One of the Trump administration’s first big moves was to get the Communists out of the Port of Long Beach. After a national security review and federal intervention, the Long Beach terminal business, which handles millions of containers annually, is finally being sold to an Australian company called Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. That essentially kills China’s decades-long contract with the Obama administration.

The deal never should have been signed in the first place considering the facility’s size, significance and the national security issues associated with a hostile foreign government controlling it. The southern California port is the premier U.S. gateway for trans-Pacific trade, according to its website, and handles trade valued at more than $194 billion annually. It is one of the few ports that can accommodate the world’s largest vessels and serves 140 shipping lines with connections to 217 seaports around the world. The facility encompasses 3,200 acres with 31 miles of waterfront, 10 piers, 62 berths and 68 post-Panamax gantry cranes. In 2018, the Long Beach port handled more than 8 million container units, achieving the busiest year in its history.

Removing Chinese Communists from this essential port is a tremendous feat and a huge victory for U.S. national security. You’d never know it because the media, consumed with the impeachment debacle, has ignored this important achievement. The only coverage of the finalized transfer is found in Long Beach’s local newspaper, which published a brief article omitting important background information on the Trump administration’s work to take back the terminal from the Communists. The story makes it seem like a regular business transaction in which “a Chinese state-owned company, reached a deal to sell the terminal, one of the busiest in the port, for $1.78 billion.” The piece also quotes the Port of Long Beach’s deputy executive director saying that the transaction process was intricate and involved one of “our most valuable port assets.” Buried at the bottom of the article is a sentence mentioning that the U.S. government, which regulates mergers for antitrust and security reasons, stepped in and required COSCO to sell its rights to the container terminal.

In the last few years China has bought cargo ports throughout the world, including in Latin America, the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Chinese-owned ports are located in Greece, Italy, Spain and other European locations. In sub-Saharan Africa there are dozens of existing or planned port projects funded or operated by China, according to a study that highlights the threat the Chinese investments present to U.S. influence in the region. One troubling analysis points out that “COSCO’s commercial expansion has created leverage for Beijing — leverage that has already resulted in countries that host COSCO ports adopting China’s position on key international issues.”

June 2019 report 8pg pdf: Assessing the Risks of Chinese Investments in Sub-Saharan African Ports

https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/190604_AfricaPorts.pdf

>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

Article referenced by Judicial Watch “40-year container terminal lease”

OOCL signs a 40 year commitment to the Port of Long Beach

(OOCL Apr 3 2012)

https://www.oocl.com/usa/eng/localinformation/localnews/2012/Pages/03Apr2012.aspx

OOCL and the Port of Long Beach held a signing ceremony for a 40 year container terminal lease with The Port of Long Beach (POLB) in Hong Kong today.

Known as the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project (MHRP), the agreement will enable OOCL to develop a state-of-the-art modern terminal with the latest automation technologies that will essentially triple the handling capacity of its current terminal at Long Beach and cutting environmental emissions by half.

Mr. Philip Chow, Chief Executive Officer of OOCL and Mr. Chris Lytle, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach signed the agreement in front of representatives from OOCL, the POLB, and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

Speaking at the event, Mr. Chow said: “This land-lease agreement has been many years in the making and without the support of the citizens of Long Beach, the government, ILWU, Harbor Commission, and all those who believe in the many benefits that this project will bring to the city and region, this day could have been possible. So I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our friends, partners, and the City of Long Beach for your trust in OOCL, working together to ensure the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project is a success.”

In his address at the ceremony, Mr. Lytle said: “OOCL has been a valued Port of Long Beach business partner for many decades. The historic agreement we sign today strengthens and continues that partnership for many decades to come. I cannot overstate the significance of this agreement. The Middle Harbor property is key to the future competitiveness of the Port of Long Beach. In fact, we call it our model for the ‘Port of the Future.’ And we could not have a better partner in this effort than OOCL.”

“This is a really a big deal,” said Ms. Susan Wise, President of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners. “It is a 40 year lease that will generate billions of dollars of revenue for the port over its lifetime. And, we have the best partner we could have in OOCL. OOCL is always a leader in our Green Flag low steaming program, and have even donated their rebates under that program back to our local community. Through this agreement, we are able to foster all of the port's goals. We can ensure that our port remains competitive. We will develop an efficient, technologically-advanced terminal at Middle Harbor. We can provide thousands of jobs along with all the commercial activity that trade fosters and we can be green, reducing the adverse effects of port operations on nearby communities and the world."

In his comments to the MHRP, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said: "The Long Beach Container Terminal and OOCL have been model corporate citizens and I applaud their commitment to be a positive presence here in Long Beach for many years to come. This lease, which sets the industry standard for both technological advancement and environmental stewardship, is a reflection of OOCL's commitment to the Long Beach area as its gateway of choice and I congratulate them on their forward-thinking and partnership with the community. I look forward to seeing all the stakeholders work together as this project comes to fruition."

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. Headquartered in Hong Kong, OOCL is one of the world's largest integrated international container transportation and logistics companies, with more than 270 offices in 60 countries. Linking Asia, Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand, the company offers transportation services to all major east/west trading economies of the world. OOCL is one of the leading international carriers serving China, providing a full range of logistics and transportation services throughout the country. It is also an industry leader in the use of information technology and e-commerce to manage the entire cargo process. (http://www.oocl.com/)

>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

Article referenced by Judicial Watch

Sale of Long Beach Container Terminal finalized by port commission

(Long Beach Press-Telegram Sep 11 2019)

https://www.presstelegram.com/2019/09/11/sale-of-long-beach-container-terminal-finalized-by-port-commission/

(fyi article author name “Littlejohn” few weeks ago digs on Hunter Biden, China and Hennege Automotive Parts involved another person named “Littlejohn”)

The anticipated sale of the Long Beach Container Terminal has port approval at last.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners this week unanimously finalized the transfer of the terminal from Orient Overseas International Line to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

OOIL, a Chinese state-owned company, reached a deal to sell the terminal, one of the busiest in the port, for $1.78 billion. The agreement was announced April 30.

Orient has owned the Long Beach Container Terminal for about 30 years, first at Pier F, and then at the Middle Harbor site. OOIL signed a 40-year, $4.6 billion lease for Middle Harbor in 2012; the automated terminal is currently 200 acres, but will soon expand to 300 acres.

Noel Hacegaba, deputy executive director of the Port of Long Beach, said the months-long transaction process was intricate and involved one of “our most valuable port assets.”

“We look forward to working with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners in the decades to come,” Hacegaba said.

The facility sees about 2.7 million containers pass through each year. Shipments include a variety of goods, including appliances and other electronics, garments and furniture from China, Taiwan and other Asian countries.

Last year, China Ocean Shipping Co., commonly known as COSCO, bought Orient; but the U.S. government, which regulates mergers for antitrust and security reasons, stepped in and required COSCO to sell its rights to the Container Terminal before it could do so.

COSCO, which also has a stake in a Port of L.A. terminal, agreed in July 2018. In December, it began the process of selling the Long Beach terminal.

Macquarie, meanwhile, is a massive international fund headquartered in Australia, with $131 billion in assets.

>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

Article referenced by Judicial Watch

China’s Commercial Maritime Expansion Raises Security Concerns

(national review May 8 2018)

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/china-commercial-maritime-expansion-global-security-concern/

While the world’s attention was focused on the People’s Republic of China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, another Chinese building project went largely unnoticed.

Supported by state capital, enabled by state regulators, and motivated by a historical desire to secure critical sea lanes, China’s state-owned shipping and port-management companies have ventured far beyond the South China Sea to build a global network of ports and logistics terminals in strategic locations across the E.U., Latin America, Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

China’s commercial maritime strategy complements a naval expansion by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) that has been under way since at least the 1980s. China’s navy is expected to defend major sea lines of communication against disruption at critical chokepoints, a mission that requires the ability to sustain a maritime presence in distant locations, under hostile conditions, for extended periods. By the mid 2000s, the focus of Chinese naval policy shifted to what China calls the “far seas” — that is, the waters beyond the “first island chain” that bounds the South China Sea. Recognizing that port facilities are the foundation of sea-lane security, China set out to establish a port network under its control, either by building or leasing facilities.

Key trends in global shipping and logistics have given rise to conditions suitable for China’s acquisition campaign. The logistics industry is becoming an integrated global system in which automated, land-based terminals play an increasingly important role in the rapid transfer of goods between ships and the rail and road networks that feed retail distribution networks. Excess capacity in container shipping and increasing competition among ports for business from ever-larger container ships mean that companies must control both vessels on key routes and terminals at suitably located ports. Much of China’s maritime buildout has been undertaken through private-market acquisitions of ports and related critical logistics assets from pension funds, shipping and terminal companies, and governments, many of which have been unable or unwilling to make the investments required for ports and terminals to remain competitive.

In the past year, the result of all this Chinese maritime buildup has become clear: a 21st-century version of the Dutch East India Company, a notionally commercial enterprise operating globally with the full financial and military backing of its home state. In this approach, massive investments in ports and related logistics, land transport, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure are the centerpiece of China’s strategy for achieving global maritime power and commensurate political influence while avoiding, or at least mitigating the risk of, a direct confrontation with the U.S. or other nations with global maritime interests.

The vessels that connect Chinese-controlled ports into an integrated network of commercial power are in effect “ships of state.” While sailing as commercial carriers of manufactured goods and commodities for a wide range of customers, the containerships of Chinese and Chinese-allied shipping firms now function as instruments of Chinese national strategy.

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Anons have belief

(and we also have diggz)

Enjoy the Easter Holiday, a most Precious of Gifts

>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

>>8769513

Macquarie consortium buying Long Beach terminal

(freightwaves April 29 2019)

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/macquarie-consortium-buying-long-beach-terminal

Orient Overseas (International) Limited announced the sale for $1.78 billion of Long Beach Container Terminal to a consortium led by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL) said it had sold 100 percent of Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) for $1.78 billion to a consortium led by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.

OOIL was required to sell the terminal, one of the largest and most automated in the country, pursuant to the National Security Agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Justice.

The federal government demanded the sale of the terminal after a review last year of the purchase of OOIL by COSCO Shipping Holdings by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

As part of the agreement with Macquarie, OOCL will continue to have its ships call at LBCT with a minimum volume commitment under a 20-year container stevedoring and terminal services agreement.

Karl Kuchel, chief executive officer of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, said his company was committed to completing the current expansion of LBCT by 2022, which will significantly increase the capacity of the terminal.

Completion of the sale will be subject to approvals from regulators and other customary conditions.

Neil Davidson, senior analyst of ports and terminals for the London-based shipping consultants Drewry, said, “The price paid is a substantial one but in line with expectations. LBCT is a profitable terminal with further scope to expand capacity and Macquarie is an experienced and canny financial investor; likewise OOCL (COSCO) is a well-informed seller.”

He added that “a key factor in the deal (and the price) is the 20-year continued usage agreement with OOCL (and in effect the Ocean Alliance) which underpins base volumes.” In addition to COSCO and OOCL, the Ocean Alliance vessel-sharing agreement includes CMA CGM and Evergreen.

Macquarie partnerships are major investors in port assets and stevedoring. In North America, they own 90 percent of the largest container terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey, Maher Terminal in Elizabeth, N.J., and 49 percent interest in Yusen Terminals Ltd. (YTI) in the Port of Los Angeles. In March one of its partnerships acquired 100 percent of NYK Ports (North America).

However, Macquarie is continuing to seek buyers for three of its terminals: Penn Terminals in Philadelphia and two terminals in Canada, Halterm in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Fraser Surrey Docks in Surrey, British Columbia.

Construction of LBCT in the Port of Long Beach’s Middle Harbor began in 2011 and will have capacity to handle 3.3 million TEUs when completed.

Anthony Otto, the president of LBCT, said currently the terminal handles about 1.5 million TEUs and is utilized by two OOCL/Ocean Alliance services. Those ships are handled at the terminal’s two existing berths and volumes are expected to grow as the size of vessels increase.

A third berth is expected to be completed in 2022.

The terminal is about two-thirds of the way toward completion, when it will encompass 311 acres.

Otto said that under the sale agreement he and the other members of the management team have agreed to continue work with LBCT for the foreseeable future.

>>8768881 LB Notable Long Beach Port - Cosco

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

>>8769513

Port Report: Macquarie funds make one of their biggest U.S. splashes with LBCT

(freightwaves May 1 2019)

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/maritime/port-report-macquarie-funds-long-beach-container-terminal

Utility and telecom plays have been among biggest bets for Australian investment manager, but it’s also selectively added U.S. port assets.

Macquarie Group’s (ASX: MQG) $1.78 billion purchase of the Long Beach Container Terminal is not its biggest deal ever. But it is one of its biggest bets in the maritime sector and the continued growth in the Southern California import gateway.

As reported in FreightWaves, a private equity fund backed by the Australia-based investment manager came out on top in the auction for the terminal owned by container shipping company Orient Overseas International, now part of Cosco.

Macquarie is one of the largest owners of hard assets in the world, with a $129 billion global portfolio spread across 70 different public and private funds. The company touts that 100 million people daily use its infrastructure assets.

The LBCT deal is the third and the largest for Macquarie Infrastructure Partners IV, which raised $5 billion last year.

The fund previously bought Aligned Energy, a manufacturer of data-center pods and cooling devices, and data service provider Bluebird Network.

Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, which focuses on U.S. and Canadian assets, raised $8.5 billion across its three previous funds, according to capital data provider PitchBook.

Led by 16-year Macquarie veteran Karl Kuchel, the funds previous big bets have been on utilities and cell towers. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III was part of a $4.9 billion buyout of Louisiana power provider Cleco Holdings. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners I led a $1 billion buyout of cell phone tower owner Global Tower Partners in 2007, and five years later selling the firm for $4.8 billion to American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT).

Its first move into the maritime sector was to buy a minority stake in the terminal and stevedoring business of Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) (JPX: 9101) in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. NYK owns the Yusen Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles.

Maher is one of the biggest terminals in the Northeast, handling up to 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year.

Long Beach Container Terminal handles about 2 million TEU annually. But the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project, which is expected to be completed in 2019, will bring Long Beach Container Terminal’s capacity up to 3.3 million TEU annually.

Article link for NYC Port:

NYK Ports Acquires Share of New York/New Jersey's Largest Terminal

(NYK Link Nov 17 2016)

https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2016/004529.html

>>8769471 Trump Rids Major U.S. Container Port of Chinese Communist Control

Macquarie Infrastructure Partners

https://www.macquarie.com/mgl/com/mic-inc/about

Overview:

The businesses MIC owns and operates are organized into three core segments:

International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT): a business providing bulk liquid terminalling to third parties at 17 terminals in the U.S. and two in Canada;

Atlantic Aviation: a provider of fuel, terminal, aircraft hangaring and other services primarily to owners and operators of general aviation (GA) jet aircraft at 70 airports throughout the U.S.; and

MIC Hawaii: comprising an energy company that processes and distributes gas and provides related services (Hawaii Gas) and several smaller businesses collectively engaged in efforts to reduce the cost and improve the reliability and sustainability of energy in Hawaii.

Infrastructure businesses are the providers of the basic, often essential, services, facilities and technology upon which the growth and development of a modern community depends. MIC offers investors an opportunity to participate in the ownership of such businesses.

MIC also invests in the development of new businesses. New businesses may be added to an existing segment or sold, or may, over time, form the basis of entirely new segments.

Leadership

The Company has entered into a management services agreement with Macquarie Infrastructure Management (USA) Inc. (the “Manager”), which defines the Manager's duties and responsibilities.

Subject to the oversight and supervision of the Company's board of directors, the Manager directs the day-to-day business and affairs of the Company and its subsidiaries and investments.

The Manager seconds to MIC, on a permanent and wholly dedicated basis, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Among the duties performed by the Manager are:

The carrying out of all of the Company's day-to-day management, secretarial, accounting, administrative, liaison, representative, regulatory and reporting functions and obligations and those of its managed subsidiaries and investments;

The establishment and maintenance of the company's and managed subsidiaries books and records consistent with industry standards and in compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and with GAAP; and

The identification, evaluation and recommendation, through the Company's officers, of acquisitions or investment opportunities and, if the Company's board of directors approves any acquisition or investment, the negotiation and management of such acquisitions or investments as a part of the Company's business under the management services agreement, on behalf of the Company and any relevant managed subsidiary.

KEK!

MacQ our Aussie Partners helping to

Keep Australia Great Again and

Keep America Great Again

>>8769830

kek

MIC of Police Rescue

>>8769881