F E ATU RE Yangshan Port is due to be completed in 2020, and will have capacity for 20 million TEUs per annum MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PROJECT NEARS COMPLETION Jason Will, Country Manager of Asian Tigers Mobility China, gives an update on building works at Shanghais US$12 billion port, Yangshan S JASON WILL, COUNTRY MANAGER OF ASIAN TIGERS MOBILITY CHINA During the 1990s, the Port of Shanghai was experiencing astronomical twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) trafc growth of between 20 and 40 per cent annually WW W. F I D I. O R G FF289FebMar19 pp46-47 Yangshan Port.indd 47 hanghai was a latecomer to the container business, with its first container port only opening in 1983. During the 1990s, the Port of Shanghai was experiencing astronomical twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) traffic growth of between 20 and 40 per cent annually. By comparison, most of the major ports in the USA and Europe were experiencing annual growth of approximately 11 per cent. By 1998, it became apparent to the Shanghai Port Authority that the existing ports along the Yangtze River would not be sufficient to handle the expected future TEU volume, as they were not deep enough to accommodate the ever-larger container vessels that were being increasingly used by shipping companies. After considering all the options, the decision was made to construct a deepwater port at Yangshan, a group of small islands located at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay. As the islands were more than 32.5km (20 miles) from the mainland, the port relied on the construction of the Donghai Bridge, which opened on 1 December 2005. At the time, it was the worlds longest sea bridge but was superseded by the recently opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which is 55km (34 miles) long. The six-lane highway took 6,000 workers two and a half years to build. The first phase of Yangshan Port was completed in 2005, with a capacity for 2.2 million TEUs per annum. The fourth phase opened in December 2017, raising the ports capacity to 6.3 million TEU per annum, making Shanghai Ports total capacity 40 million TEUs per annum. According to the design plans, Yangshan Port will be completed in 2020, with 30 berths and a capacity of 20 million TEUs per annum. It is projected that, when completed, the total investment in the port will have reached US$12 billion. Yangshan Port is fully automated and has 130 guided vehicles or portable robots in daily operation. All household goods shipments arriving in Shanghai excluding diplomatic shipments have to be taken to the Shanghai customs bond store, where all items are subjected to x-ray screening. The distance from the main Shanghai port Waigaoqiao Port to the Shanghai customs bond store is approximately 18km (11 miles), whereas the distance from Yangshan Port to the customs bond store is approximately 120km (75 miles) and can take three to four hours. For that reason, containers arriving at Yangshan Port will usually be subjected to additional transportation charges compared with containers arriving at Waigaoqiao. Yangshan Port at nght 47 23/01/2019 16:45