A.P. Moller - Maersk Group and Xiamen Port (Group) held a grand opening ceremony for the Xiamen Songyu Phase I Container Terminal at Songyu Port, Xiamen. Madam Wu Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council, presided over the opening ceremony in the presence of Madam Ma Xiuhong, Vice Minister of Commerce. More than 200 people attended the event, including government officials from Fujian province and the city of Xiamen, as well as senior executives from the Xiamen Port Group and from A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, including Mr. Tom Behrens-Sorensen, Group Executive Vice President, and Mr. Richard Nicholson, Vice President for APM Terminals in the Greater China Area. APM Terminals is the terminal operating unit of A.P. Moller - Maersk Group. The Songyu Container Terminal will substantially strengthen the growing foreign trade in southeast China.
This opening further cements the long-term partnership between A.P. Moller - Maersk Group and the city Xiamen, and a joint commitment to develop together with South China’s economy. Songyu Phase I was jointly developed by APM Terminals and the Xiamen Port Group. Both companies hold a 50 percent stake in the terminal.
Songyu Phase I began offering world-class container port services since its soft opening in April and has received positive feedback from shipping companies. The terminal is equipped with advanced port machinery. For example, it is the first Asian container terminal to use Eco-RTG with the lowest energy consumption level, demonstrating that the terminal is playing a pioneering role in China’s efforts to build a more environmentally-friendly society.
The Songyu Phase I Terminal is uniquely positioned in the southeastern corner of the Haicang district in Xiamen at the intersection of the two sea lanes leading to the city, making it the closest terminal at the port with access to the high seas. The terminal has three 17-meter-deep berths across 1,246 meters of dock and a land area of 353,000 square meters, enabling it to receive calls from the sixth generation of large vessels. As a deep-water port close to sea lanes, Songyu Phase I ranks among the top international container terminals in the world. EMMA MAERSK and its PS-class sister vessels, the world’s largest and most advanced container vessels, call at the Songyu Phase I Terminal on Maersk Line’s Asia-Europe line.