A $500 million unsolicited bid by a Philippines-based stevedore to expand its automated container handling operations at the Port of Melbourne hopes to lure some of the globe’s biggest ships south by offering to build a new terminal at “lowest cost”.

Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), which started providing stevedoring services at Melbourne’s Webb Dock in early 2017 and competes with Patrick and DP World, has told the port it is prepared to invest $500 million over the next decade expanding its existing terminal to the north.