Building begins on cruise ship terminal in Shanghai

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 05, 2004

Building begins on cruise ship terminal in Shanghai

Construction began on Saturday on a new cruise ship terminal along a northern section of the Bund, which is expected to open for business at the beginning of 2007.

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Construction began on Saturday on a new cruise ship terminal along a northern section of the Bund, which is expected to open for business at the beginning of 2007.

The terminal, which will cover 160,000 square meters and stretch 850 meters in length, will be able to berth three large cruise liners, those of 80,000 dead weight tons, or four ordinary passenger ships of 30,000 dead weight tons at the same time, said officials with Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal Development Co Ltd.

It also means that three ships the size of "SuperStar Leo," the largest cruise ship ever to visit Shanghai, can rest along the 850-meter-long coast line at any one time.

"The coast line is the best among downtown areas along the Huangpu River as it boasts water depth of between 10 meters and 12 meters, making the terminal suitable for receiving large ships," said Wang Chi, deputy general manager of the development company.

If the cruise industry grows quickly in Shanghai, as city officials hope that it will, the port will be able to build a 300-meter-long extension to berth more ships, Wang said.

Besides cruise ships, the terminal will also handle two regular passenger lines connecting Shanghai and Japan.

Currently, two ships a week sail that route.

The terminal will be bound by the Huangpu River to the south, Dongdaming Road to the north, Gaoyang Road to the east and Hongkougang, a small tributary of the Huangpu River, to the west.

Previously, the land was home to the city's old terminal building for international passenger ships, which was demolished several weeks ago to make way for construction to begin on the new terminal.

The new facility will include a four-story, water-drop shaped building for passengers to buy tickets, clear customs and wait for their ships.

The developer has also announced plans to build a large park along the river.

In addition, other facilities like shopping streets, hotels, office buildings, apartments and art centers will also be developed on the land as city officials hope to turn the area into a tourism center similar to Xintiandi, Shanghai's most popular entertainment complex.

Industry experts calculate that the project will cost somewhere in the neighborhoood of 500 million yuan (US$60.24 million).

With that figure in mind, the developer is looking for partners in the shipping and tourism industry to help finance the massive project.

The world's three largest cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International and Star Cruises, are all interested in the project, but no deals have been finalized yet, according to Wang.

Industry officials are pushing the local government to speed up the time it takes passengers to clear customs when entering Shanghai on a cruise ship before the new terminal opens.

Source: Shanghai Daily

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