The second phase of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, the country's biggest, opened yesterday, bringing Shanghai one step closer to becoming an international shipping center.

 

 

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said at the opening ceremony that the throughput capacity of Shanghai Port had reached 20 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) this year, a record for the city. The port recorded a throughput of approximately 18.1 million TEUs last year.

 

Shanghai Port is the third largest container port in the world after Singapore and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

 

Yangshan is a key part of the effort to develop Shanghai Port. Yangshan phase-I began exactly one year ago. The port is on the East China Sea and is linked to the mainland by a 32.5-kilometer long bridge. Yangshan has a depth of 16 meters, double that of the city's old ports, which is enough to accommodate the world's largest container ships.

 

The second phase of the Yangshan project includes four berths on a 1.4 kilometer waterfront. Located to the west of the five-berth phase-I it'll extend the port's current waterfront to about 3 kilometers and has a designed handling capacity of 2.1 million TEUs annually.

 

"The combination of Yangshan phase-II and phase-I will increase the port's water-to-water shipment transfers and reinforce its function as a hub port. It could also provide shipping companies with full-time, customized services," said Chen Xuyuan, president of the Shanghai International Port Group.

 

 

 

 

 

(China Daily December 11, 2006)