The six companies and consortia which had expressed interest in taking over the handling of cargo at the Valletta port have been asked to submit tenders.

However, one of the original six companies, PD Ports plc will not be taking part in the tendering phase, a Department of Information statement said yesterday.

The other consortia are: Hili Company Limited, a consortium made up of the General Workers’ Union (Holding) Limited and Port Workers Investments plc; Kuwait & Gulf Link Stevedoring Company Ltd; La Valletta Terminal Co (Malta) Limited represented in Malta by Farrugia, Gatt & Falzon with the consortium including BLG Consult based in Bremen, Germany, Salv Bezzina and Sons Limited, Salvu Meli and Sons Ltd and Joseph Paris; Malta Ports Terminals, a consortium composed of stevedores and foremen, ship agents and British Portia Management Services Ltd as the strategic operating partner; and TF Shipping Agencies, a consortium composed of the Tumas Group and Portek Ports (Mauritius) which is based in Singapore.

These companies have been asked to collect and submit their tenders in the coming weeks after which the evaluation process will begin, the Competitiveness Ministry said.