Shanghai port opens giant empty container transportation centre

An empty container transportation centre has opened in Shanghai, the world’s largest container port.

The giant new facility located in the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone can handle 3m teu per year.

“The new centre will help us to apply digitalised and intelligent management to promote communications between ports and shipping enterprises, so as to provide empty container services for shipping operators as well as customers in Northeast Asia, along the Yangtze River Delta region, and areas along the Yangtze River,” said Gu Jinshan, chairman of Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).

Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC and Evergreen have come onboard as partners in SIPG’s new empty container site.

The availability of empty containers has been a serious issue throughout the pandemic, with many containers becoming stuck in North America. Analysts at Sea-Intelligence are predicting there will be an increasing pile of empty containers in key destination regions coming up again shortly, and not enough vessel capacity to repatriate them.