Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200812/20081216/article_384658.htm
Sea: Container ships sail into history
Created: 2008-12-16 1:15:19
Author:Staff Reporters
TWO Chinese mainland container vessels set out for Taiwan from Shanghai's Yangshan Deep Water Port yesterday on the first direct sea journey across the Taiwan Strait since 1949.
Shanghai was among the 63 port cities on the mainland to begin direct shipping under a landmark agreement that will save cargo companies time and fuel costs.
The two vessels were the Yuan He, owned by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, and the Xin Fei Zhou, which was making its maiden voyage and is owned by China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd. The vessels are expected to pull into Taiwan's Kaohsiung Harbor on Thursday.
For the past nearly 60 years, ships sailing between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have had to stop at an intermediary port before completing their voyage across the Taiwan Strait.
Direct access will help shippers on both sides of the strait reduce voyage times by a cumulative 110,000 hours each year and save US$100 million in costs, said officials with the mainland-based Federation for Shipping Cooperation Across the Taiwan Strait.
"The sailors and I have waited for this moment for a long time. I am very excited," Li Yarong, captain of Xin Fei Zhou, told Shanghai Daily before the ship's departure.
For shippers that serve many ports in Asia, the benefits might be more in the future than the present, as they often routinely stop to pick up and deliver cargo at other ports between the mainland and Taiwan.
"There will not be a direct influence on us since we already have routes between the mainland and Taiwan, and we currently don't see any change in our strategy concerning those routes," Yu Xiaoli, a COSCO spokeswoman, told Shanghai Daily.
"If necessary, our ships will still stop at other ports in the north before sailing to Taiwan."
Shanghai was among the 63 port cities on the mainland to begin direct shipping under a landmark agreement that will save cargo companies time and fuel costs.
The two vessels were the Yuan He, owned by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, and the Xin Fei Zhou, which was making its maiden voyage and is owned by China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd. The vessels are expected to pull into Taiwan's Kaohsiung Harbor on Thursday.
For the past nearly 60 years, ships sailing between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have had to stop at an intermediary port before completing their voyage across the Taiwan Strait.
Direct access will help shippers on both sides of the strait reduce voyage times by a cumulative 110,000 hours each year and save US$100 million in costs, said officials with the mainland-based Federation for Shipping Cooperation Across the Taiwan Strait.
"The sailors and I have waited for this moment for a long time. I am very excited," Li Yarong, captain of Xin Fei Zhou, told Shanghai Daily before the ship's departure.
For shippers that serve many ports in Asia, the benefits might be more in the future than the present, as they often routinely stop to pick up and deliver cargo at other ports between the mainland and Taiwan.
"There will not be a direct influence on us since we already have routes between the mainland and Taiwan, and we currently don't see any change in our strategy concerning those routes," Yu Xiaoli, a COSCO spokeswoman, told Shanghai Daily.
"If necessary, our ships will still stop at other ports in the north before sailing to Taiwan."
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