Last month, Zhenhua 17, a cargo ship from Shanghai drew into the 14th berth of Xiamen Haicang bonded terminal area to drop off equipment for the Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal - the first automated one in the country.

All loading and delivery work will be done by machines, so very few workers will be seen at the new terminal, which has been nicknamed the "ghost terminal", said Wu Xinkui, deputy chief of Haicang district in Xiamen.

A video of the terminal in action showed a passing container being picked up by an automated bridge crane and being placed on an automated container truck. Under the instruction of a GPS the truck moved to a designated freight yard before a gantry crane picked up the container again and placed it in a designated area.

Officials said that the terminal used an automatic simulation system to make sure that human workers were not needed.

Compared to a traditional terminal, the automated version that will become operational in Septermber can save 25 percent in energy and cut carbon emissions by 15 percent, said Wang Shenyuan, general manager of the technology department for the new terminal.

Construction of the terminal, which cost 658 million yuan ($107 million), started on Oct 27 last year, and when complete its throughput is expected to reach 78,000 to 91,000 TEU per year, officials said.

The Haicang bonded terminal area has become a hub for Southeast China's international shipping industry.

So far, the bonded terminal area has a freight throughput of 100 million tons and 10 million TEU of containers.

There are 12 berths with a rating of 100,000 tons, which are under construction, and 10 berths with a handling capacity of 50,0000 tons.

The Haicang terminal area is China's most open, functional and convenient bonded area with the most favorable policies, according to officials.

The terminal area is also China's only bonded area that combines processing, logistics and a port area, said officials.

Several renowned shipping companies use Haicang terminal area, including Maersk Line, COSCON, CMA CGM Logistics, and HWL, and 54 international shipping lines have been opened there.

The terminal area was one of the achievements of the Haicang Taiwanese investor district. The district is the country's earliest and biggest Taiwanese investor area and the first bonded port area west of the Taiwan Straight.

Haicang was a shabby fishing village 25 years ago but is now rated 20th among the country's 100 best districts.

Its GDP rose 42 times, from less than 1 billion yuan to the current 42.45 billion yuan. Its terminal throughput accounts for half of the city and one third of the province.

The district's fiscal revenue is 14 billion yuan, which ranked it as one of the top three places among the province's 84 counties and districts.

The district's GDP per capita, income per capita and farmer income per capita were all ranked as the best in the province.

xuxiao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/05/2014 page19)