SHANGHAI's Yangshan deep water port aims to expand handling capacity of its automated container terminal in a bid to reduce vessels' waiting time and operating costs for ocean carriers, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

General manager of Shandong Container Terminal, operator of the Yangshan Port's fourth phase, the world's largest automated container terminal, Jin Jian, said the 2,350-metre harbour is expected to handle 6.6 million TEU this year, surpassing the design capacity of 6.5 million TEU.

"We are looking to make the terminal more intelligent and environment-friendly as we increase its capacity to better serve the container liners" he said.

"An annual capacity of more than 7 million TEU is targeted as we expand computing power and make proper logistics arrangements."

Shandong Container Terminal which began operations in end-2017 is a subsidiary of the state-owned Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) which has made a CNY12.8 billion (US$1.8 billion) investment in the fourth phase of the expansion.

At present, 145 automated guided vehicles, the largest fleet of any container terminal worldwide, are used in the terminal to handle loading, discharging and transport of containers round the clock, Jin said.

He added that a quickened pace of handling containers could add lustre to the automated terminal, drawing more global container traffic.

The 6.6 million TEU annual throughput amounts to over a quarter of the total container handling volume of 24 million TEU at the Yangshan port in 2022.

Shanghai's ports reported a total container throughput of 47.3 million TEU in 2022 as the mainland's commercial and financial hub retained the title of the world's largest port for the 13th consecutive year.