Land reclamation and reinforcement work at wharves S4 and S5 of the Intercontinental Container Terminal Phase 2 of Kaohsiung port is expected to commence in May and finish by end of 2017.
Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) expects to invest TWD3.98 billion (USD130.48 million) to construct a new state-of-the-art, 18 m water-depth, 1,185 m long wharf together with 75.5 ha of reclaimed land to be used in the construction of the new container terminal.
Once completed, this new facility will be capable of handling two 220,000 teu container ships simultaneously, which will increase Port of Kaohsiung’s annual handling capacity by approximately 2 million teu and spur upgrades in its logistics capabilities.
The number of container ships over 10,000 teu has seen a steady upward trend in recent years, with 145% more of this class of ships making calls in Kaohsiung in 2014 than in 2013 and driving the port’s annual container throughput to surpass 10 million teu.
TIPC is committed to using Phase 2 of the Intercontinental Container Terminal to increase the port’s competitiveness as a container hub and promote the modernisation and transformation of its older wharf districts. All related public infrastructure projects are expected to be fully completed by end of 2019.
Currently, Kaohsiung port is recruiting shipping companies and port service companies to set up business at the 7th Container Terminal. Once finished, this container terminal, which is scheduled to begin commercial operations in July 2018, is expected to attract at least TWD15 billion worth of new investment in new facilities and equipment.
At present, Asia accounts for around 64% of the world’s outbound container traffic, which translates into around 420 million teu in volume. The 46 180,000 teu container ships that were purchased by the shipping industry in 2014 are now gradually coming into service. Furthermore, the 220,000 teu container ships are now off the drawing boards and under construction. “It is clear that the rise in container ship sizes is a trend that is set to continue through the foreseeable future,” stated TIPC.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.