[Japan]Chiba

Profile of the Port:  The Port of Chiba is located inside Japan's centrally located Tokyo Bay. Its 133 km of coastline spanning six cities--from Ichikawa in the north to Sodegaura in the south--make it the largest port in Japan. Thanks to land reclamation along the coastline and the attraction of numerous industries, the Port of Chiba has seen one of the leading port in Japan in terms of the cargo volume handled. It is primarily an industrial port, with over 94% of its cargo being handled through industry-owned wharves. This step is expected to boost the role of public wharves in the future.

Major Public Facilities:  The Port of Chiba has a total of 11,606 m of public mooring wharves with 94 berths. Lighter's wharves and related facilities extend 6,512 m, divided into the Ichikawa Wharf, Funabashi Central Wharf, Funabashi Eastern Wharf, Chiba Central Wharf, Dezu Wharf, Ichihara Wharf, Sodegaura Wharf, and others. The PREFECTURE operates 15 storage sheds (47,210 ©O), cargo handling areas (398,828 ©O), and open storage areas (365,480 ©O). It also operates a waste oil treatment plant and other facilities in Ichihara City. In March 1997, a second gantry crane was added to the unit in use since opening of Chiba Central Pier Container Terminal.

Port data (2005):   In 2005, the Port of Chiba handled 4,605 foreign trade vessels with a gross tonnage of 88,868 thousand and 60,587 domestic vessels with a gross tonnage of 52,961 thousand. Foreign trade cargo totaled 97,506 thousand tons and domestic cargo 68,209 thousand tons, adding up to 165,715 thousand tons in total. The public wharves were used by 1,361 foreign trade vessels with a gross tonnage of 7,634 thousand and 12,177 domestic vessels with a gross tonnage of 12,195 thousand. Foreign trade cargo totaled 3,729 thousand tons and domestic cargo 6,324 thousand tons, adding up to 10,053 thousand tons in total.