After it becomes a corporation in 2012, Kaohsiung Harbor may set up joint ventures with major international harbor operators to tap the transshipment business of mainland China’s second-tier harbors, said Hsiao Ting-hsun, director general of Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau.
The bureau estimates that second-tier harbors in southern China, such as Humen, Chuanzhou, and Shantou, provide shipping business of about 5 million to 6 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, which can greatly boost the shipping volume of Kaohsiung Harbor, according to the China Economic News Service (CENS).
The government has passed a draft statute calling for the creation of a national harbor company that will integrate the four major harbor bureaus of Kaohsiung, Keelung, Suao, and Hualien into a single harbor company headquartered in Kaohsiung.
Instead of continuing to lease docks to major shipping firms, Kaohsiung Harbor plans to seek transshipment business from small and medium shippers from the cross-Taiwan Strait, using two idled docks for its base, CENS reports.
Kaohsiung Harbor plans to conduct tie-ups with international harbor operators, such as PSA International of Singapore, Dubai Ports World of the UAE, P&O of Europe, and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, to bolster its capability to engage in such shipment business.
It plans to use the two idled docks as equity in the joint venture and is looking at investing in the harbors of mainland China or other overseas areas.
Meantime, Dredging Today reports that the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau plans to spend NT$2 billion (US$34.7 million) to rebuild wharves from August this year, including the reconstruction of three wharves at the No. 4 container center to facilitate the entry of 10,000-TEU container vessels.
The bureau believes that the 10,000-TEU container ships will be the mainstream vessels of the shipping market worldwide. The reconstruction of the wharves at the harbor will help shipping firms to boost transit volume.
