Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, August 02, 2003
Maersk Sets China's Largest Container Harbor its Key Stop
The world's largest shipping company Maersk has made Qianwan harbor, China's largest container harbor, of which Maersk is a 20 percent shareholder, its hub porton the China-Europe route.
The world's largest shipping company Maersk has made Qianwan harbor, China's largest container harbor, of which Maersk is a 20 percent shareholder, its hub porton the China-Europe route.
The company also decided to open a direct shipping line betweenEurope and Qingdao Port, of which the Qianwan harbor is a major part, in the eastern province of Shandong.
Instead of relaying goods via Hong Kong, Maersk's ships bound for Europe from Qingdao Port, one of the largest along the northern coasts, will cut their voyage time by three days. This gives Qingdao Port the shortest route between China and Europe, said authorities.
Qianwan harbor hosted early this week the first China-Europe direct-service ship, after reconstruction work with the involvement of Maersk enabled the port to handle larger ships.
Transport costs for a China-Europe journey will drop dramatically, according to Maersk.
The rebuilding program for the harbor was jointly funded by theQingdao Port (Group) Co., the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. Ltd,A.P. Moller Maersk Group of Denmark and P&O of Britain at a cost of over 800 million US dollars.