Taipei container terminal opens

Taipei container terminal opens    The first phase of a new container terminal in the Port of Taipei has opened, Asian news outlets reported this week.
   The Taipei Port Container Terminal has the financial backing of Taiwan’s three largest ocean carriers — Evergreen, Yang Ming and Wan Hai — and expects to handle 750,000 TEUs in its first year. In its first phase, the terminal will have two berths and capacity for 1.1 million TEUs. Plans are to expand it by seven berths for a total capacity of 4 million TEUs.
   The port could marginalize the nearby port of Keelung because it has deeper draft and because it has the backing of the three local carriers – Evergreen has a 50 percent stake, Wan Hai a 40 percent stake and Yang Ming the remaining 10 percent.
   TPCT could also steal business from Taiwan’s biggest port, Kaohsiung, which was once one of the three busiest ports in the world but has seen its ranking slide in recent years. The Taipei terminal will offer shippers more direct links to and from Taiwan’s biggest city and capital.
   The draft at Taipei, 16 meters, coupled with recently lifted transport restrictions between Taiwan and mainland China, should see large container vessels serve the port.
   Evergreen and Wan Hai have indicated they will have a collective four deepsea services call at the terminal, according to a report in Lloyd’s List.