XICT terminal welcomed the 10,062-TEU Cosco Asia

XIAMEN International Container Terminals (XICT) has welcomed the 10,062-TEU Cosco Asia with a remarkable dockside productivity rate of 181 moves an hour, said a communique from the port operator.

The Cosco Asia is one of the world's largest containerships, said the statement, and has a length of 349 metres, a beam of 45.6 metres and a draft of 14.5 metres.

The ship was deployed in July by CKYH Alliance for the AE4 European service to support the growing trade between Xiamen and Europe, which is increasing at more than 20 per cent a year.

Over time, there will be continued fleet upgrades to ensure that all vessels deployed in the trade lane will have capacities of more than 10,000 TEU, the communique said.

The port rotation of AE4 is Xiamen, Yantian, Hong Kong, Nansha, Suez, Hamburg, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Suez, Singapore and Xiamen.

"The arrival of the Cosco Asia is a vote of confidence from global shipping lines on XICT's facilities, capable of accommodating 10,000-TEU vessels or larger with a quay length of 1,083 metres and a depth alongside of 17.5 metres," said XICT general manager Raymond Chan.

XICT a joint venture between Hutchison Delta Ports (HDP) and Xiamen Haicang Port Company. Situated at Haicang in the Xiamen Special Economic Zone in Fujian, it has been in operation since 1997 and is part of the HDP network, which comprises three coastal and three river ports in southern China.

XICT is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL). HPH is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in 23 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Today, HPH operates in 45 ports.