CHINA's Xiamen Port is to spend US$1.71 billion to build four new container ship berths to increase its annual handling capacity by 4.26 million TEU.

Located along a 1.86km coastline in the port's Xiang'an area, the deepwater berths can currently handle two 20,000 TEU vessels, one 15,000 TEU boxship, one 10,000 TEU vessel and one 5,000 TEU container ship simultaneously. The berths in the Xiang'an area can now process around 3 million TEU annually.

Xiamen Port announced the construction plan after receiving the green light from the Ministry of Transport this week. It is understood that this project has been included in the State Council's 14th Five-Year Plan to develop a modern transportation system and is among 102 major national projects, reports Container News.

In 2022, Xiamen handled 12.99 million TEU, up from 9.9 million TEU in 2021. Xiamen lies opposite Taiwan and is key to cross-Strait trade and is part of the Maritime Silk Route.

Last week, Xiamen hosted for the first time three large boxships simultaneously at its Songyu Container Terminal. The three vessels were the 18,270 TEU Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the 11,078 TEU Gunvor Maersk and the 11,000 TEU Eleonora Maersk.

Xiamen Port's Haicang area is also expected to upgrade its container handling capacity. Currently, the berths in Haicang handle around 9 million TEU annually. There are plans to build seven more berths that can handle 10,000 to 20,000 TEU vessels.