FT.com: How China Rules The Waves (Shipbuilding Tech, Port Tech, Shipping & Maritime Network)

[Shotgunner51]

China-funded Djibouti Free Trade Zone starts construction
2017-01-18 17:00:51 CRIENGLISH.com

Location of Djibouti [Photo: sina.com.cn]​

Construction on the China-funded Djibouti Free Trade Zone started on Monday, reported Global Times.

China's largest public port operator, Dalian Port Corporation Limited, is building the free trade zone with a total primary investment of 340 million US dollars. The Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority and China Merchants Holdings will operate it in a joint venture.

With an area of 48 square kilometres, the Zone is expected to open by the end of this year.

A Reuters report cited Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority, saying "the new free zone will be the country's first employment reservoir, with more than 15,000 direct and indirect jobs created."

In recent years, Djibouti has seen steady annual growth of six to eight percent in volume of freight, according to the Global Times. Now it is the busiest port in the Red Sea Region.

After it's put in operation, the Djibouti FTZ will become a crucial junction linking other African countries involved in China's "Belt and Road" initiative, and make the small northeast African country a marine logistics hub linking Africa, Asia and Europe.

The Chinese-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway is under construction. [Photo: Xinhua]​

China and Djibouti have upgraded bilateral cooperation in many fields. Construction on China's first overseas logistics supply facilities started in the African country at the beginning of 2016. The Chinese-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, currently under construction, will reduce travel time between the two cities from two-or-three days down to only 10 hours. Djibouti is also home to China's first overseas commercial bank -- Silk Road International Bank.


http://english.cri.cn/12394/2017/01/18/2743s950026.htm

China Merchants Port Holdings invests in Djibouti
January 17th, 2017

China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) has entered into agreements to establish two joint ventures for the proposed investment in the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone.

CMPH, China Merchants Investment Development (CMID) and Cheer Signal Investment will set up a joint venture named Lac Assal Investment Holding, in which the three parties will hold 40%, 40% and 20% interest respectively. Total investment in the jv is $30m.

In addition, CMPH will set up an operation and management joint venture named East Aden Holding with CMID, Cheer Signal, Dalian Port Group and IZP Network Technologies. The parties will hold a 26.7%, 26.7%, 13.3%, 25% and 8.3% interest in the joint venture respectively.

CMPH acquired a 23.5% interest in Port De Djibouti in 2012. In November 2016, the company reached an agreement with a number of partners to jointly develop Djibouti International Free Trade Zone.

CMPH said Port De Djibouti lies strategically at the Red Sea, making it an ideal transshipment for maritime cargoes passing in and out of East Africa, offering long term growth potential.


http://splash247.com/china-merchants-port-holdings-invests-djibouti/

 

[Shotgunner51]

Beijing’s shipping lines deliver more containers than those from any other country,

Other than containers, COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation also owns and operates the world's largest tanker fleet (both by tonnage and by ship count), and has committed to further increase.

COSCO Launches World's Largest Tanker Company
By MarEx 2016-06-07 18:59:09

On Monday, China COSCO Shipping officially launched the world's largest tanker company with a ceremony in Shanghai. COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation will be the top tanker firm both by tonnage and by ship count, with 105 vessels of a combined 17 million dwt, valued at about one tenth of China COSCO's assets. It boasts some 200 domestic and overseas customers in oil and gas.

State-owned China COSCO chairman Xu Lirong said that the move would help "ensure China's energy security," and that it would serve as an example to other state-owned enterprises of the benefits of large-scale restructuring.

Full article at http://maritime-executive.com/article/cosco-launches-worlds-largest-tanker-company​

 

[AndrewJin]

China-funded Djibouti Free Trade Zone starts construction
2017-01-18 17:00:51 CRIENGLISH.com

View attachment 369403
Location of Djibouti [Photo: sina.com.cn]​

Construction on the China-funded Djibouti Free Trade Zone started on Monday, reported Global Times.

China's largest public port operator, Dalian Port Corporation Limited, is building the free trade zone with a total primary investment of 340 million US dollars. The Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority and China Merchants Holdings will operate it in a joint venture.

With an area of 48 square kilometres, the Zone is expected to open by the end of this year.

A Reuters report cited Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority, saying "the new free zone will be the country's first employment reservoir, with more than 15,000 direct and indirect jobs created."

In recent years, Djibouti has seen steady annual growth of six to eight percent in volume of freight, according to the Global Times. Now it is the busiest port in the Red Sea Region.

After it's put in operation, the Djibouti FTZ will become a crucial junction linking other African countries involved in China's "Belt and Road" initiative, and make the small northeast African country a marine logistics hub linking Africa, Asia and Europe.

View attachment 369405
The Chinese-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway is under construction. [Photo: Xinhua]​

China and Djibouti have upgraded bilateral cooperation in many fields. Construction on China's first overseas logistics supply facilities started in the African country at the beginning of 2016. The Chinese-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, currently under construction, will reduce travel time between the two cities from two-or-three days down to only 10 hours. Djibouti is also home to China's first overseas commercial bank -- Silk Road International Bank.


http://english.cri.cn/12394/2017/01/18/2743s950026.htm

China Merchants Port Holdings invests in Djibouti
January 17th, 2017

View attachment 369408

China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) has entered into agreements to establish two joint ventures for the proposed investment in the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone.

CMPH, China Merchants Investment Development (CMID) and Cheer Signal Investment will set up a joint venture named Lac Assal Investment Holding, in which the three parties will hold 40%, 40% and 20% interest respectively. Total investment in the jv is $30m.

In addition, CMPH will set up an operation and management joint venture named East Aden Holding with CMID, Cheer Signal, Dalian Port Group and IZP Network Technologies. The parties will hold a 26.7%, 26.7%, 13.3%, 25% and 8.3% interest in the joint venture respectively.

CMPH acquired a 23.5% interest in Port De Djibouti in 2012. In November 2016, the company reached an agreement with a number of partners to jointly develop Djibouti International Free Trade Zone.

CMPH said Port De Djibouti lies strategically at the Red Sea, making it an ideal transshipment for maritime cargoes passing in and out of East Africa, offering long term growth potential.


http://splash247.com/china-merchants-port-holdings-invests-djibouti/

Beautiful tram

 

[Shotgunner51]

Beautiful tram

You are always sensitive to rails and trams, even in this maritime subject!

On topic, this FT Investigation seems echo to some earlier articles, like this
https://qz.com/415649/china-is-buil...global-commercial-military-empire-in-history/

 

[haidian]

South Korean shipbuilding looming over a cliff as it’s overtaken by Japan
Posted on : Jan.5,2017 17:36 KSTModified on : Jan.5,2017 17:36 KST

Slumping global and nonexistent domestic demand, along with competition from China and Japan, spell trouble for S. Korean companies

The South Korean shipbuilding industry has been teetering on the brink of the “order cliff” for several years now, and the industry has finally fallen behind Japan in its order backlog. This is leading to concerns that South Korea’s status as a shipbuilder is in jeopardy 17 years after it overtook Japan to become the global industry leader in late 1999.

On Jan. 4, Clarksons, a British firm that tracks market conditions in the shipbuilding and shipping industries, estimated that the South Korean shipbuilding industry (including companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries) had an order backlog of 19.89 million CGT (473 ships) as of the end of 2016, while Japan had 20.06 million CGT (835 ships) in its order backlog. According to these figures, Japan was ahead of South Korea by about 170,000 CGT.

CGT, standing for compensated gross tonnage, is a standardized tonnage measure. The order backlog represents the amount of shipbuilding work left to do at shipyards at a given point of time.

But South Korea is still ahead of Japan in yearly orders. Last year, the South Korean shipbuilding industry was behind China in the number of new orders at 1.57 million CGT to 3.51 million CGT, but led Japan, which had 1.12 million CGT.

South Korea had maintained its advantage over Japan in the order backlog since it gained a lead of 20,000 CGT in late 1999. When the shipbuilding industry was in its heyday at the end of 2008, South Korea‘s order backlog was double that of Japan. Today, China has the largest order backlog, while South Korea and Japan are vying for second and third place.

The primary factor for South Korea falling behind Japan is thought to be the severe global slump in orders. The South Korean shipbuilding industry is vulnerable to a much greater shock from a downturn in the global industry than Japan. South Korean shipbuilders get about 90% of their work from global clients, while 50% of the vessels built by Japanese companies are destined for the domestic market.

Japanese shipyards received orders for a total of 48 vessels between Jan. and Nov. 2015, of which at least 40 were reportedly ordered by large Japanese shippers like Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).

“Japanese shipyards are holding on because they have lots of orders from their domestic shipping companies, but Korean shipyards haven’t received a single order for a new ship from domestic shipping companies over the past few years since every shipping company has been facing a severe liquidity crisis,” said a source at Hyundai Heavy Industries.

“When the global shipbuilding industry faces a shortage of orders, domestic orders can serve as something of a safety valve,” said Hong Seong-in, an analyst with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET).

This is leading some to say that the collapse of the industrial ecosystem in which the shipbuilding industry and the shipping industry sustained each other’s momentum has also played a part in precipitating this crisis.

“The government has lavished huge subsidies on the shipbuilding industry because it was called the best in the world. It even provided export financing to global shipping companies on the pretext of helping the domestic shipbuilding industry win more orders. At the same time, domestic shipping companies have barely received any subsidies or benefits since they say we have a poor credit rating,” said a source at one shipping company. The government’s restructuring of the shipbuilding and shipping industries was imbalanced because it failed to recognize the big picture of the industrial ecosystem, the source alleged.

To be sure, another factor allowing Japan to regain the upper hand in the order backlog was the huge number of ships that South Korean shipbuilders completed last year and handed over to their owners. South Korea delivered 11.41 CGT of new ships last year, while Japan delivered just 6.70 CGT.

But others think that Japan‘s turnaround is likely to just be temporary. “The Japanese shipbuilding industry didn’t regain the lead over South Korea because it had become more competitive in scale or technological ability. The chances are very low that this reversal will be a continuing trend in the future,” Hong said.

Looking at historical shifts in influence in the global shipbuilding industry (focusing on the volume of orders), Japan overtook Europe in the mid-1960s. After that, Hyundai Heavy Industries became the world’s single largest shipbuilder in the early 1980s. The South Korean shipbuilding industry as a whole surpassed Japan to become number one in the world in 1999.

South Korean shipbuilding firms enjoyed an unprecedented boom that began in 2005 and lasted for several years, but they have yet to recover from the global financial crisis in 2008 and from the failure of the offshore platform project. In the meantime, South Korea has surrendered its number one ranking to Chinese shipbuilders, which have been advancing backed by demand and financing provided by the Chinese government.

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/777534.html

Jan 12 China aims to capture up to 40 percent of the global high-end marine equipment market over the years through 2020

Japan Overtakes South Korea in Ranking of Biggest Shipbuilding Nations
January 4, 2017

For the first time in nearly two decades Japanese shipbuilders have overtaken rivals in South Korea in terms of newbuild order backlog, industry data shows.

According to Clarskon Research data released Wednesday, in December 2016 Japan had a backlog of 20.64 million compensated gross tonnes (CGT), surpassing South Korea’s backlog of 19.91 CGT.

China is still world’s largest shipbuilding nation with roughly 30 million CGT.

Compared to the same time the previous year, South Korea’s had 31.08 CGT, compared to Japan’s 25.55 million CGT.

The Korea Times reports that 2016 marks the first time in 17 years Korean shipbuilders have fewer ships to build than Japan.

“This shocking overturn shows how dire the situation has become for Korean shipbuilders over the past few years,” an official at one of Korea’s three largest shipbuilders, told The Korea Times. “For the past two decades, Korea ruled the global shipbuilding industry. But now it is behind China and Japan in orders secured. Local shipbuilders must double their efforts to win new contracts in 2017.”

South Korean shipbuilders have been hit hard over the past two years by the prolonged downturn in the shipping and offshore industries. Since the downturn, began the country’s three biggest shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Samsung Heavy, have been forced to lay off more than 20,000 workers and post substantial losses amid delivery delays and a low number of orders for newbuild vessels and offshore rigs.

CGT is an indicator that best determines the shipbuilding production capacity of a country.

http://gcaptain.com/japan-overtakes-south-korea-in-shipbuilding/

 

[Godman]

IMHO, this is just a feel good article with a lot of nonsense.
This article don't mean much to China.
China is only interested in doing trade and investment in a win-win situation with all countries.
China does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
What China does is protect her own economic and security interests.
This has been seen throughout history and it is just not in her DNA to tell other countries what to do.
Their countries, their rules. It's much better this way.

Well there are several types of super powers and empires. Some became powerful through military power while some became rich and powerful through trade. In modern day US is a good example of a superpower that spreads its military power across the globe while China uses trade and economic ties to gain power and influence

 

[Shotgunner51]

Well there are several types of super powers and empires. Some became powerful through military power while some became rich and powerful through trade. In modern day US is a good example of a superpower that spreads its military power across the globe while China uses trade and economic ties to gain power and influence

Agree. Basic maritime security is needed, but China's MIC is state-owned, directly managed by government hence there's no motive to grab taxpayers' money (domestic or foreign) or even indebting the public. China's diplomacy doesn't serve interests of MIC but overall economy, will continue to be mercantilistic. On topic, SL and China each have strengths that can complement one another, forming great partnership. Colombo port is already #1 in South Asia, I believe Hambantota, Colombo International Financial City and other projects can become huge success.

 

[Godman]

Can any Chinese member explain what he says?

 

[Godman]

CICT surpasses 2 million teu milestone in second full year of operation

Colombo South Terminal’s incremental volumes contribute to overall growth of Port of Colombo

Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) has reported a throughput of 2 million teus for the 12 months ending 31st December 2016, achieving impressive YoY growth of 28 per cent in volume.

This new volume has enabled the Port of Colombo to register overall incremental growth in the three consecutive years since CICT came into operation, the company said.

Announcing the milestone achievement, CICT said ULCCs (Ultra Large Container Carriers) and VLCCs (Very large Container Carriers), many of a size that only the Colombo South Terminal is capable of handling, had contributed 70 percent to the volumes it achieved in 2016.

The incremental volume handled by CICT was one of the contributors to the overall throughput of the Port of Colombo growing by an estimated 11 percent in 2016, the company said. CICT is the first and currently the only deep water terminal in South Asia equipped with facilities to handle the largest vessels afloat.

“The overall growth achieved by the Port of Colombo bears out the rationale for CICT’s successful operation,” CICT CEO Mr Ray Ren said. “We are delighted with the new business CICT has attracted to the Port of Colombo in 2016, and proud of our contribution to the overall growth achieved by the Port.”

CICT General Manager – Commercial & Marketing Mr Tissa Wickramasinghe added: “It must be emphasised that this historic achievement of 2 million teus was made possible mainly by the synergies developed through our parent company China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH). The ability to access the CMPH global network was the key factor in gaining and attracting new transhipment volumes to the Port of Colombo. With the introduction of new services and new shipping lines, CICT has set the trend for the Port of Colombo to stave off international competition for the highly sensitive and volatile transhipment cargo, in a depleted global shipping market.”

In 2015, its first full year of operation, CICT 2015 handled 1.561 million teus, with the ULCC and VLCC segments making a 67% contribution to this volume. The benefit of these mega carriers calling at the port cascades down to the other terminals and reinforces Colombo’s status as a major transhipment hub.

Over the past two years, CICT has brought some of the largest vessels plying the Asia-Europe routes to Colombo. Of these, MSC Maya at 19,224 TEU the world’s largest container vessel, the MV Mogens Maersk (18,300 TEU), MSC New York (16,652 TEU), CMA CGM Marco Polo (16,020 TEU), YML YM Wondrous, Edith Maersk and EMC Thalassa Hellas (each 14,000 plus TEUs) and their sister vessels are now regular callers at CICT.

Besides its significant contributions to the growth of the Port of Colombo in volume terms, CICT is also responsible for several firsts in service innovation and eco-friendly operations. In early 2016, the company launched a US$ 10 million programme to convert its fleet of diesel operated rubber-tyred-gantry cranes to electricity driven rubber-tyred gantry cranes (E-RTGs) which have zero carbon emissions.

CICT was also the first terminal in the Port of Colombo to introduce electronic boat notes, breaking new ground in efforts to reduce paper in export documentation, as well as the first to launch a mobile app for the purpose of keeping track of containerised cargo at the terminal.

The concluded year also saw CICT winning the prestigious ‘Highly Commended’ award in the ‘Port Operator’ category at Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards, and being cited as one of the factors in its parent company – China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPH) – being adjudged Port Operator of the Year at the Lloyd’s List 2016 Global Awards.
http://www.cict.lk/CICT surpasses 2 million teu milestone in second full year of operation.php

 

[Shotgunner51]

CICT surpasses 2 million teu milestone in second full year of operation

2 million TEU last year, that's amazing speed! I still remember I talked about CICT here on PDF back in early 2015, I was very optimistic about the project: https://defence.pk/threads/now-indi...olombo-lotus-tower.370141/page-7#post-7034739. Latest data shows Colombo in 2014 already reached 4.91 million TEU, maintains #1 largest port in South Asia, #30 worldwide, CICT was not fully operational yet. My estimate is that for 2016, it should've surpassed 6 million TEU, overtaking Yingkou, New York, Bremerhaven.

http://www.worldshipping.org/about-the-industry/global-trade/top-50-world-container-ports​

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Piraeus growth outpaces most European ports
Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Jan 18, 2017 9:43AM EST

The port of Piraeus is a key node in Beijing's Belt and Road network.

Piraeus was one of Cosco Shipping Port’s fastest-growing container terminals in 2016, with a 14.4 percent surge in traffic that is almost certain to be on one of the highest growth rates on the European waterfront.

The Chinese group’s two berth terminals at Greece’s largest port, which it has operated since it acquired a 35-year concession in 2009, grew traffic to 3.471 million 20-foot-equivalent units last year from 3.034 million TEUs in 2015, when the port was a star performer for the company. The strong showing will strengthen Piraeus' position as a Top Ten European container port and a leading regional transshipment hub.

Piraeus outperformed Cosco’s other European container terminals, with Antwerp Gateway down 4.6 percent at 1.922 million TEUs, while the Belgian port’s total volume rose 4 percent to top 10 million TEUs for the first time. The neighboring APM Terminals Zeebrugge terminal, in which Cosco has a minority shareholding, grew traffic by 3.4 percent to 277,400 TEUs.

The Euromax terminal in Rotterdam handled 653,800 TEUs since Oct. 1, when Cosco acquired a 35 percent stake from Hong Kong’s Hutchison Ports for 125.4 million euros [$134.2 million] to expand its presence in the Le Havre-Hamburg port range. The terminal, which handled 2.3 million TEUs in 2015, has not yet published its 2016 result.

Piraeus also outperformed Cosco’s part-owned Suez Canal Container Terminal, where traffic slumped by 13.8 percent last year to 2.55 million TEUs from 2.95 million TEUs in 2015.

Piraeus is expected to continue growing traffic and boosting its share of the southern European transshipment market following Cosco’s 280.5-million-euro acquisition of a majority 51 percent stake of the port in August, which has given it control of a terminal previously operated by the port authority.

Cosco, which will increase its stake to 67 percent in five years, has pledged to spend 500 million euros to expand and modernize the port, which has been targeted as a key gateway to European markets as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road project.

The Chinese government last week signed a deal to provide Cosco Shipping Port’s parent company China Cosco Shipping Group $26 billion to invest in the Belt and Road program and further “reforming of state-owned enterprises.”

The company expanded its European footprint in October with the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in APM Terminals’ reefer terminal in the port of Vado in northwest Italy, where a new 800,000 TEUs a year deep-sea container terminal is due to open in 2018.

Cosco Shipping Ports boosted its overall 2016 traffic, the majority in mainland China, by 5.1 percent to 95.07 million TEUs from 90.49 million TEUs in the previous year.

Foreign terminals, including Singapore, South Korea’s Busan Port Terminal, and SSA Terminals in Seattle, grew volume by 36.8 percent to 13.58 million TEUs from 9.93 million TEUs in 2015.

http://www.joc.com/port-news/europe...aeus-port-continues-shine-cosco_20170118.html

========
Shanghai starts 2017 with 12% rise in January box throughput



China’s Shanghai port has started 2017 with a rise in container throughput in January over the year-ago period, according to data released by Shanghai International Port (Group) Co (SIPG).

In January, the Chinese port of Shanghai moved 3.3m teu of boxes, an increase of 12.2% from 2.94m teu recorded in January 2016, SIPG data showed.

Last year, Shanghai retained its crown as the world’s busiest container port, handling 37.13m teu, up 1.6% from 36.54m teu registered in 2015.


Posted 14 February 2017

Shanghai records 1.6% rise in 2016 box volumes to 37m teu


Shanghai International Port (Group) Co (SIPG) has announced on Wednesday that Shanghai port has handled higher container volumes in 2016 over the previous year, retaining its crown as the world’s busiest container port.

The Chinese port moved another record high throughput of 37.13m teu in 2016, a climb of 1.6% compared to the previous record throughput of 36.54m teu in 2015.

Shanghai continues to be the world’s busiest container port, ahead of its closest rival Singapore port, which has handled 28.14m teu in the first 11 months of 2016.

In financial results, Shanghai-listed SIPG registered a full year net profit of RMB6.85bn ($989.3m), an improvement of 4% from the gain of RMB6.56bn in the previous year.

Revenue also rose by 5% year-on-year to RMB31bn on the back of the higher container throughput, SIPG announced.


Posted 11 January 2017


http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/25002.html?highlight=WyJzaGFuZ2hhaSIsInNoYW5naGFpJ3MiLCJzaGFuZ2hhaSciXQ
=======

 

[ahojunk]

Container throughput of Zhoushan Port up 4.5 pct y-on-y
Source: Xinhua | 2017-02-17 18:51:04 | Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

The container throughput of Zhoushan Port in 2016 has reached 21.56 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), up 4.5 percent year-on-year.

Photo taken on Feb. 16, 2017 shows the container terminal at Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

Photo taken on Feb. 16, 2017 shows the container terminal at Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

Photo taken on Feb. 16, 2017 shows the container terminal at Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

 

[TaiShang]

Carnival joint venture to acquire China-built cruise ships
By Xu Lin | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-02-27

Carnival Corporation & plc recently announced that its cruise joint venture in China has signed a new memorandum of agreement to order the first China-built cruise ships for the Chinese market. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The global leisure travel company, Carnival Corporation, recently announced that its cruise joint venture in China would acquire China-built cruise ships.

An agreement to this effect was signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and company representatives.

Under the agreement, the cruise joint venture will have two cruise ships built by a China-based shipbuilding joint venture comprising China State Shipbuilding Corporation and the Italy-based Fincantieri S.p.A.

The cruise joint venture also has the option to order four more China-built cruise ships.

The ships will be built with supervision and support from Carnival Corporation, and the first ship is expected to be ready in 2023.

Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corporation, said that the company was proud to order its first China-built cruise ships and play a meaningful role in developing cruise shipbuilding capabilities in China.

He added that the deal demonstrated the company's commitment to helping China become a leading cruise market.

The US-based company operates several popular cruise brands in China such as Costa and Princess. In 2015, the company formed a joint venture in China with CSSC and China Investment Corporation.

 

[TaiShang]

Cuba's Mariel port seeks China push
China Daily, March 6, 2017

These days, giant Chinese-built cranes briskly unload shipping containers from cargo ships at Cuba's deep-water port of Mariel, a fledgling special economic zone the country hopes will drive development over the coming years.

With 2015 bilateral trade surpassing $2 billion, China is Cuba's second largest trading partner behind Venezuela. It is now playing a key role in helping the Caribbean island country to make Mariel live up to its promise.

The Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co, a global leader in port equipment, has provided the Mariel Container Terminal with four ship-to-shore gantry cranes, 12 rubber-tiered gantry cranes and two rail-mounted gantry cranes.

As business picks up at Mariel, the company will increase the number of state-of-the-art cranes to 24 STS and 72 RTGs, increasing the unloading capacity from 800,000 containers to 3 million.

As global trade grows, Cuba is betting on its strategically located port to become a hub for companies doing business with the Caribbean, Central America and other parts of Latin America.

The deep-water port is part of Mariel, which also features a duty-free zone and an industrial park with modern facilities and business-friendly tax breaks.

The Cuban government has pledged to guarantee an average investment of $300 million a year in Mariel, Oscar Perez-Oliva, Mariel's business assessment director, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The 702-meter-long and 14.3-meter-deep port can accommodate today's super-sized cargo ships, which transit from Asia through the Panama Canal, and expects to become a major container loading and unloading center for other destinations in the region.

The cranes, as well as the technological support provided by Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, make the Mariel Container Terminal one of the world's most modern and efficient container terminals.

Each container is identified with a number, and is weighed and scanned with a state-of-the-art system to determine its contents, as part of a so-called "non-intrusive inspection" procedure done at most leading terminals around the globe.

While these Chinese companies have been key contributors to the construction of Cuba's landmark project, other Chinese companies are also expected to enter Mariel, producing goods or providing services.

"There are interested companies that we are working with on different projects and we hope this year we will see a Chinese company present in our zone as a user," said Perez-Oliva.

"Various delegations from our special economic zone and other institutions have made promotional visits to China to meet representatives of different companies and jointly assess the possibility of establishing Chinese investment in the area as soon as possible."

Mariel officials are working with the Chinese investors in "maturing" projects in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and industrial production, according to the director.

@Shotgunner51

 

[Shotgunner51]

The Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co, a global leader in port equipment, has provided the Mariel Container Terminal with four ship-to-shore gantry cranes, 12 rubber-tiered gantry cranes and two rail-mounted gantry cranes.

The cranes, as well as the technological support provided by Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, make the Mariel Container Terminal one of the world's most modern and efficient container terminals.

Chinese heavy equipment and IT supporting this landmark project of Cuba, good combination, ZPMC and Huawei are both dominant leaders in their respective fields.

While these Chinese companies have been key contributors to the construction of Cuba's landmark project, other Chinese companies are also expected to enter Mariel, producing goods or providing services.

Perhaps global giant like China Merchants, COSCO or Hutchison should run this Cuban port. Hutchison already has extensive presence in the region (e.g. Panama), it's a good candidate.