MOTC Deputy Minister Lauds Local Achievements at 60th Hanghai Festival

To restructure its economy to achieve sustainable growth, Taiwan has been  developing the local maritime industry over the past years, to have created positive results to boost the island's image as a maritime nation, said C.Y. Chen, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC),  at the 60th Hanghai Festival, a maritime navigation festival held July 11 in Taipei, northern Taiwan, which gathered directors from Taiwan's heavyweight shippers including Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Evergreen Marine Corp.

Citing the latest statistics published by the United Nations, Chen emphasized that Taiwan  ranks No.10 globally by tonnage of ships that total 44.26 million.

Meantime, Chen added, the total container handling volume at Taiwan's commercial ports in H1, 2014 reached an all-time high of 7.32 million TEUs  (twenty-equivalent units), including 5.14 million TEUs at the Kaohsiung Port alone, also a record high, with the southern port to possibly see annual container handling volume in 2014 beat the record of 10.26 million TEUs achieved in 2007.

Such high mark for the Kaohsiung Port is not mere hopeful thinking, as Chen stressed that visits by large container ships with capacity of over 10,000 TEUs has already reached 35 in H1, 2014, nearly 6 times higher year on year, indicative of the port's importance in the Asia Pacific.

Chen also mentioned that the MOTC has decided to pour NT$66 billion (US$2.2 billion) into constructing a logistic center for intercontinental containers at the Kaohsiung Port, and ferry passenger terminals at both the Kaohsiung Port and Keelung Port in the next five years, after completing the construction of east-coast access roads to the Keelung Port last December.

Evergreen Marine was honored at the event as the best shipper with annual revenue of NT$139.2 billion (US$4.64 billion) last year, followed by Yang Ming Marine and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. (SC)