EU / APM Terminals: informal guidance issued for the joint purchasing of EU ports electric carriers

Providing APM Terminals (a port terminal operator that is part of the Maersk Group) with a guidance on the compatibility with EU competition rules of the joint purchasing of electric container-handling equipment used in ports : this is the object of the informal guidance published on 09/07/2025 by the European Commission, at the request of APM Terminals (issued in December 2024), and designed for EU port terminal operators.

Most straddle and shuttle carriers used in European ports are diesel-powered. Port terminal operators have been reluctant to purchase battery-electric carriers due to significantly higher costs, but also due to the lack of interoperability, in particular, between charging equipment from different suppliers. Hence, the envisaged agreement aims at reducing the costs for port terminal operators, and will contribute to GHG emissions decrease in harbours and ports:

• by allowing them to pool a part of their future demand of these products;
• by providing suppliers with a more predictability about future demand;
• by improving interoperability, in particular, between…