HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The Hamburg Parliament has waved through the controversial deal for the world's largest shipping company MSC to acquire a stake in the port logistics company HHLA in the first reading. In a roll-call vote, 71 of 105 MPs approved the plan of the red-green Senate in the last session before the summer break. 34 MPs voted against. The second and final reading is not expected to take place until September 4, as the opposition from the CDU, Left Party and AfD refused a further reading in the same session. However, there is no doubt that the parliament will approve the contract, which will run for at least 40 years, in the first session after the summer break due to the red-green two-thirds majority.

Hamburg's red-green Senate wants to bring the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on board in order to stabilize Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and container handling. The city is to hold 50.1 percent and MSC 49.9 percent of the company. To date, the city has owned around 70 percent, with the remainder in free float. In return, the shipping company wants to increase its cargo volume at the HHLA terminals from next year onwards and increase it to one million standard containers per year by 2031, according to the draft law. It will also build a new German headquarters in HafenCity. MSC and the city also want to jointly increase HHLA's equity by 450 million euros, among other things.

There are considerable reservations about the deal. Port workers took to the streets several times, venting their anger at demonstrations and not even shying away from a wildcat strike. Works councils, the Verdi trade union and even experts warned of a "historic mistake" in expert hearings and in a public hearing of the Hamburg Parliament./klm/DP/he