Evergreen Marine Corp. (EMC) has celebrated the official opening of Terminal 7 at Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan’s first automated container terminal.
With the vision of new opportunities for the port and the provision of substantial enhancements to trade, the smart terminal is expected to drive ongoing growth of shipping related industries within southern Taiwan.
The event was presided over by EMC’s Chairman, Y.I. Chang, and President, Eric Hsieh. A host of local government officials and distinguished guests were also in attendance.
Evergreen Marine worked closely with Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) to develop Terminal 7.
The new facility is considered to be the most important project that Taiwan’s shipping industry has undertaken in recent years.
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TIPC built the port infrastructure, while Evergreen invested in the operational system and handling equipment, such as Ship-to-Shore (STS) gantry cranes, Automated Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMGC), reachstackers, and side loaders.
Terminal 7 is equipped with 5 berths with a draught of 18 metres, a quay length of 2,415 metres, and 24 STS gantry cranes, including 19 remote-controlled ones, in keeping with the worldwide container shipping industry trend and the operating requirement of mega containerships.
Among them are 16 55.5-metre-high gantry cranes that can handle ultra-large container ships with 25 rows of containers on deck, significantly enhancing quayside operating efficiency.
The five berths of Terminal 7 will be inaugurated in two phases. Currently, Berth S5, S4 and S3B have become operational while Berth S1, S2 and S3A are scheduled to commence operations during July 2024.
When fully operational next year, Terminal 7 will reportedly be able to accommodate four 24,000 TEU boxships and two feeder vessels at the same time.
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The facility has a yard size of 149 hectares and can hold 89,238 TEU of laden containers and 43,656 TEU of empty containers.
Terminal 7, Taiwan’s first and largest fully-automated container terminal with remote-controlled gantry cranes, has the potential to dramatically increase the efficiency of container handling operations.
In the long run, the terminal is projected to handle 6.5 million TEU per year.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Evergreen Marine Corp. Chairman, Yi Chang, said: “In line with the trend of the international shipping industry and the operational demand of mega container ships, Evergreen consolidated the cargo handling services in Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 of Kaohsiung Port and moved the operations to the advanced Terminal 7.
“We removed the trucking demand to haul containers between the two separate terminals and cutting carbon emissions from such transportation.
“We made a significant investment in automatic and energy-saving equipment and also launched ‘Containerlink’, an online platform which improves service quality by integrating truck appointments for cargo delivery/pickup, container yard operation and digital payment systems.”
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Chang added: “By building the new automatic quayside operations and the unmanned yard in Terminal 7, we are able to provide more efficient, eco-friendly service to our customers and offer better working environment for local employees, taking yet another step toward our goal of sustainable operations.”
Evergreen has deployed 24 STS gantry cranes, including 19 remote-controlled ones, 60 ARMGCs, and 24 smart gates at Terminal 7 as part of its objective to establish a fully automated container centre.
In June 2023, oil company, ExxonMobil, and Evergreen Line, successfully completed a commercial marine biofuel oil bunkering in the Port of Singapore.
