By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTChinese mainland ports, particularly the Port of Shanghai, are giving highly regarded mega ports Hong Kong and Singapore a run for their tonnage. While Singapore and Hong Kong have long been running neck-in-neck, capturing top status as No. 1 for containerized freight tonnage, Shanghai is on track to overtake both ports next year. Wang Qingwei, board secretary of Shanghai International Port Group, is convinced 2008 will be the year Shanghai shines as the world’s busiest container terminal. “Volume may rise 15 to 25 million teus this year,” Wang says. He expects volume to rise 15% to 25 million teus this year. Shanghai has already knocked Hong Kong from its recent No. 2 perch, while Singapore retains its No. 1 position. Hong Kong usually enjoys top ranking, but dropped to No. 3 in the first quarter of 2007 when Shanghai’s freight volumes jumped to 5.9 million teus compared to Hong Kong’s 5.5 million teus. Singapore remained out front by handling 6.6 million teus. Due to the fact that Shanghai has experienced more than three million teus of throughput growth each year since 2003 and, since December 2005, has benefited from the $16 billion deepwater Yangshan Island Terminal that has come on stream in two phases, its position is sweetening. It is estimated that by next year, Shanghai is likely to handle about 20% of the world’s container throughput. By 2010, the port is expected to reach a whopping 30 million teu. Port of ShanghaiThe Port of Shanghai consists of three major container port areas: Yangshan Island Terminal, Wusongkou Terminal, and Waigaoqiao Terminal. These are managed by Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), a spin off of the Shanghai Port Authority. SIPG operates 125 berths on a total quay length of around 20 kilometers and owns more than 5,000 units of cargo handling equipment. Currently, the port boasts a 3,000 meter-long deepwater quay, 34 of the world’s most up-to-date container quay cranes, 120 Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes and other handling and transportation facilities. Its most important asset, however, is its location at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the middle of China’s 18,000 kilometer long coastline. The Yangtze, known as “the Golden Waterway,” links the inland waterways of the Yangtze River Valley region to provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Expressway and state-level highways connect the port to all regions of the country. In order to further develop the Port of Shanghai’s position for world trade and increase container traffic through the port, SIPG has embarked on three strategies that will improve overall shipping in China and introduce efficiencies in shipping practices. These are identified as the Yangtze River Strategy, Northeast Asia Strategy, and Internationalization Strategy. The Yangtze River Strategy involves further SIPG investment in Yangtze River feeder hub ports such as at Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing. It includes a Dispatch Center for Yangtze River Inner Feeder Services that promotes the upgrading of vessel size and standards for those ships operating on the river, as well as improving the river’s navigational and shipping capacity. Port, shipping and agency resources will eventually be consolidated, resulting in a regional cargo gathering network with Shanghai as the terminus for the entire Yangtze River Valley. The Northeast Asia Strategy involves developing ship-to-ship transshipment operations at the Port of Shanghai with the Yangshan port area as the focal point for this activity. This plan centers on establishing a highly efficient and economical barging system and enabling integrated operation of the port areas. The goal is to attract steamship companies to make the Port of Shanghai their priority hub in Northeast Asia for container transshipment operations. The development of a coastal public feeder network will upgrade Shanghai’s ability to gather cargo within the Northeast Asia region, and achieve seamless connections of Yangtze River, coastal and in