Work on Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal fourth phase begins

CONSTRUCTION of the Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal's fourth phase, jointly developed by Qingdao Port Group, DP World, Maersk and Cosco, has begun, Xinhua reports.

The fourth phase project, located on the south shore of Qianwan new port area, will develop eight container berths with draughts of 18 to 20 metres and quay length of 2,640 metres.

Two of the eight berths will be completed by the end of 2008 and the other six will be completed in five years, the report said.

As the biggest ever container terminal project in Qingdao, Qianwan fourth phase costs CNY6.9 billion (US$917.35 million) and it will help Qingdao port to cast aside capacity shortage pressure.

The container volume of Qingdao port came to 7.7 million TEU in 2006, far exceeding the designed capacity of existing terminals.