Port of Tianjin
Encyclopedia
The Port of Tianjinformerly known as the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing
. It is located on the western shore of the Bohai Bay
, centered on the estuary of the Haihe River, 170 km south east of Beijing
and 60 km east of Tianjin
city. It is the largest man-made port in mainland China, and one of the largest in the world. It covers 107 square kilometers of land surface, with over 31.9 km of quay shoreline and 140 production berths at the end of 2010.
Tianjin Port handled 413 million tons of cargo and 10.1 million TEU
of containers in 2010, making it the fourth largest port by throughput tonnage in the planet, and the eleventh in container throughput. This makes it the third largest port in China, behind the merged Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
and the Port of Shanghai
, and sixth in container throughput. The port trades with more than 600 ports in 180 countries and territories around the world. It is served by over 115 regular container lines. run by 60 liner companies, including all the top 20 liners. Capacity is increasing at a high rate, with 550-600Mt of throughput capacity expected by 2015.
The port is part of the Binhai New Area
district of Tianjin Municipality, the main special economic zone of Northern China, and it lies directly east of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area
. The Port of Tianjin is at the core of the ambitious development program of the Binhai New Area, and due to this developmental storm, change occurs at a very accelerated pace. The name "Tianjin Xingang", which strictly speaking refers only to the main seaport area, is sometimes used to refer to the whole port.
to the north. To the west, the Port borders the city of Tanggu (now the Urban Core of the Binhai New Area) and the TEDA
. To the east, the port opens up to the Bohai Bay
.
The Bohai Bay is one of the three bays that compose the Bohai Sea
. The Bohai Sea is a fairly shallow (average depth 18m), semi-enclosed water body, with relatively poor water exchange into the Yellow Sea
(it can take 40 to 200 years for complete water turnaround), The enormous sediment runoff from the Yellow River and Haihe makes it a very silty water body.
The coastal area
of Tianjin municipality was dominated by mudflats, salt marshes (and saltern
s), and coastal shallows. This littoral zone is wide and slopes gently: the 0m isobath (the intertidal flats) extends to 3-8km from shore at a slope of 0.71-1.28%, the -5m isobath extends 14-18km, and the -10m isobath reaches 22-36km. These features make deep water navigation dependent on extensive dredging, but it also means that land reclamation is a cost-effective option for construction. Tianjin Port is thus by necessity largely man-made through dredging and reclamation.
Soil geology: As it is largely built on man-made surfaces, Tianjin Port’s engineering geology is fairly regular:
Seismological Conditions: The area of Tianjin is very seismically active. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake affected the harbor and caused serious damage to its installations. The Port’s current design specifications are to resist earthquakes of intensity 7, to a basic design earthquake acceleration of 0.15g.
climate type (Köppen
Dwa), with a short rainy season in the summer, large seasonal differences in temperature, and large variation in weather year to year. Annual average temperature is 12.3℃. The hottest months are July and August (maximum temperature recorded was 39.9℃ on July 24, 1955), and the coldest is January (minimum temperature recorded was -18.3℃ on January 17, 1953). The average relative humidity is 65%, with a maximum of 100% recorded in the summers, and a minimum of 3% recorded in winters.
Precipitation and Storms Average annual precipitation is 602.9 mm, with rainfall concentrated on the rainy months of July and August. Maximum recorded annual rainfall was in 1964 (1083.5 mm), and minimum recorded annual rainfall was in 1968 (278.4 mm). The maximum single day precipitation recorded occurred on July 30, 1975 (191.5 mm). The average number of thunderstorms is 27.5 per year, mostly breaking out in June and July. Due to its shallowness and narrowness, the Tianjin coast is prone to storm surges: since 1860 there has been 30 storm surges, around once every 4 years, most recently in 2003, 2009 and 2011. Of the nine serious surges in the last hundred years, five were caused by typhoons (the Bohai Bay is at the northernmost range of the Pacific typhoon corridor), and four by winter cyclones
.
Winds: Average annual wind velocity is 4.43 m/s; Easterly winds have the fastest average velocity, averaging 6.51 m/s. Strongest (steady) wind recorded was a WNW blowing at 33 m/s, on January 3, 1986. Winds over category 7
are observed 1-7% of the year. Predominant winds are:
Fog: Fog or haze is present in around one third of the year, particularly during winter. Of these hazy days, there is an average of 16.5 fog days per year with visibility of less than one kilometer (a visibility level that triggers severe restriction of traffic in the port), The foggiest year on record was 1972, with 26 days; foggiest month was January 1973 with 12 days. Like other regions in the North China Plain
, Tianjin Port is prone to pollution haze. This haze can be a navigational problem when combined with foggy conditions.
Tides: Tanggu has a mixed semidiurnal tide
with primary lunar components The lunitidal interval
is 45 min, the average duration of rise is 5h40m, and the average duration of fall is 6h53m. The daily inequality
between low waters is particularly marked.
Average tide heights
at the Tanggu Oceanic Station (塘沽海洋站) are:The Chart Datum
used for these tide values is the 1985 National Datum Mark (国家高程基准), which is an adjustment of the 1956 Yellow Sea Datum. The Admiralty chart datum uses the local LAT, and the NGA presents approximate data, so the numbers disagree slightly. The old “Dagu Zero” (大沽零点), the first of the six Chinese chart datums, was developed at the Dagu tide station and it is sometimes still found in some charts (particularly of the Haihe). Dagu Zero is 1.163m higher than the 1985 Datum.
The design water levels for port facilities are:
Tidal currents: Flood tide
at the Dagukou Anchorage flows northwest (average bearing 292), average speed of 0.8 knots, and maximum 1.9knots. Ebbing tide flows to the southeast (130 average bearing average), average speed of 0.7knots, and maximum 1 knot. Tide currents within breakwaters are parallel to the channel and have a maximum speed of 0.64 knots.
Waves: The western Bohai Bay is a relatively calm body of water. The frequency of waves below 1.0m height is 87.6%, of waves of height above 1.0 m is 12.4%, waves above 2.0m 1.9% and waves above 3.0m is 0.4%. The proportion of pure wind waves is 74.2%, of pure swell
waves is 0.9%, and of mixed swell/wind is 24.9%. Predominant wave directions are NNE-E (9.68% frequency) and ENE-E 9.53% S 9.27%, SSE 8.91% and SE 8.30%. Waves are strongest in spring and weakest in fall. Summers are very calm, unless typhoons wander off far enough north. Strongest average waves are ENE and NNW waves.
Icing: Ice cover in the Bohai Bay is highest in February. Shore icing extends an average of 500 m, with an average thickness of 10-25 cm, maximum of 40 cm. Drift ice extends 15-20 nm, roughly to the 10-15 m isobath. Average drift ice thickness is around 5 cm, thickness is 20–25 cm. Ice flow rates are SE-NW, at an average speed of 30cm/s, maximum of 100cm/s.
Icing is a regular problem for the Haihe riverine port area, and requires continuous clearing. Icing is not normally a navigational hazard at the seaport, except on extremely severe winters like the 2009-2010 winter (the severest in over 30 years). Seasonal buoyage change is necessary.
Sedimentation: Silting was long considered an insurmountable obstacle to deep-water navigation at Tanggu. However, the extensive hydraulic work of the last decades, in particular the damming of the Haihe, has reduced silting to manageable levels, reducing average estuary water sediment from 0.75 kg/m3 to 0.1 kg/m3
Pollution: Severe eutrophication
caused by polluted runoff has made red tides in the Bohai Bay common. Combined with overfishing, this has put pressure on once-abundant fish stocks. Biological pollution
is also a problem, with illegal ballast water discharges creating a strong danger of invasive exotic species.
, but it was only during the Tang Dynasty
that the need for a forward base for operations in the northeast led to the establishment of the Sanhui Harbor (三会港口) in the region of modern Junliangcheng
(军粮成 l="army rations town"), a fact still preserved in the town's name.
The process of creating a major port in the Haihe river was at first based on the development of inland waterways rather than sea routes. The area of Tianjin became a major trade hub starting in the Sui Dynasty
, when canal works that would later became part of the Grand Canal linked the Yellow River basin with the Haihe basin around the area of modern Tianjin. Since Song Dynasty
times, the main port of the region was at Zhigu (later known as Tianjin).
In 1043, the Yellow River
had one of its frequent cataclysmic course changes, and took over the course of the Haihe until 1194. In that 150 years span, the enormous runoff of silt from the "Flowing Mud" caused a major change in the coastline. The shoreline, which at the time was roughly at modern day Junliangcheng
, moved forward around 23 km to the present day line of Tanggu, Beitang and Gaoshaling. The land on which the modern Tanggu lies is therefore a mere 800 years old.
With the move of the capital to Yanjing (later Beijing) in 1153 by the Jin Dynasty, the wharves in the lower Haihe became a critical hub in the extensive grain trade needed for the survival of a large capital city. The Mongol conquest made this trade even more necessary when in 1264, the Yuan Dynasty
established its capital at Dadu
，also on the site of modern Beijing.
Feeding the enormous needs of Dadu was the spur for the creation of regular sea-going routes to complement the inland waterways, which were reaching their limit capacity. Sea routes connecting Liujiagang in Zhejiang
province and Zhigu Yangcun wharf were established in 1276 (a route taking 120 days to complete), and in 1282 (a route taking 30 days to complete). A breakthrough occurred in 1293, when a third sea route was opened that took a more direct open-sea path from Liujiagang to Yangcun, going eastwards from the Yangtze mouth into the “Black Water Ocean” (the deepest section of the Yellow Sea), turning at the tip of the Shandong peninsula around Chengshan, entering the Bohai Sea around Shamendao，and then going directly from Laizhou
into the Haihe mouth. This route required more complex navigation，but it took less than ten days to sail, and it is in essence the route still used today for shipping between Shanghai and Tianjin. To assist this burgeoning sea trade, in 1318 the first recorded aid to navigation in the region was established in the Longwangmiao temple at the Haihe mouth. During daytime, white cloth flags were raised on high poles. At night, lamps were lit and raised to guide approaching boats.
The Ming
and later the Qing
were sporadically hostile to sea trade, which resulted in the policy of "Sea Ban" applying on and off for centuries, varying between reinforcing defense against pirates, and depopulating the coastline. The focus then oscillated from focusing on river trade and reopening sea routes. The port of Zhigu, was renamed "Tianjin" ("Ford of the Emperor") by the Yongle Emperor
to commemorate a victorious forced river crossing. Yongle's move of the imperial capital back to Beijing in 1405 also resulted on the renewed importance of the grain trade passing through the port of Tianjin.
In xxxx the Qianlong Emperor lifted the prohibition against ocean fishing that had held for a century, re-population of the coast resulted in the founding of many fishing villages, including modern Dagu, Beitang and Tanggu, the modest beginnings of the current Xingang area.
were rebuilt to protect the access to the Haihe estuary at Tanggu. The Forts became a critical battleground during the Second Opium War
. In the aftermath of the war, the 1860 Treaty of Tianjin opened up Tianjin to foreign trade and established the first Foreign Concessions in Tianjin
. While the main trade port was located in the Concessions at Zichulin (紫竹林), right next to Tianjin city, the British opened the first modern wharf at Tanggu (the "Little Wharf" in Lanjingdao, nowadays the Huanqiu Shipyard). Tanggu remained a critical strategic point, and Li Hongzhang
established the Taku Dockyard and fostered the extension of the Kaiping Tramway
to Dagu -later the Jingtang (Beijing-Tanggu) railway.
The Boxer Rebellion
once more saw a decisive battle fought for the Taku Forts
. After the capture of Beijing by the Eight Nation Alliance, the Qing Court was forced to sign the Boxer Protocol
, which further increased the size of the Concessions (now including nine countries), and granted the foreign occupation of Tanggu. This lead to significant development of the Tanggu port on the part of all the various foreign powers. Wharves by British, German, Japanese and American companies were built (mostly on the northern shore of the Haihe), and by 1940, Tanggu had 56 berths amounting to 6090m of quayside
The original Japanese plan called for laying down a 30 km breakwater; dredging a 13.4 km, 200 m wide shipping channel; building a shiplock at the entrance of the Haihe; and establishing three wharves with 12 berths, for a projected throughput of 27 Mt. The plan was expected to be completed by 1947. Work slowed down as the war started to go wrong for Japan, and resources (in particular coal) became more and more scarce. By the time of Japan’s surrender in 1945
, the project was less than half-way completed: the shipping channel had been two-thirds dredged, breakwaters extended 11 km, only one terminal with 700m of quayside had been completed, while a second terminal and the barge terminal were almost completed. The Shiplock was 85% complete. 11 km of railways had been laid down, and the ship dock (now the Xingang Shipyard) had been established.
After Japan’s surrender, American forces took control of Tanggu and Tianjin before transferring control back to the Nationalist government
. The Kuomintang authorities restarted the incomplete works, and reopened the port. But as the Chinese Civil War
raged, resources dried up and disorder in the running of the port grew.
Through lack of resources, combat damage and demolitions by the retreating Nationalist forces, the War left the Tanggu New Port damaged and silted into unusability by the time it was captured by the Communists on September 17, 1949. Restoring it online was a slow process. On Sep. 15, 1950, the Tianjin Port Bureau of the Department of Transportation was officially established to provide the first unified management of the ports in the Tianjin region. On August 24 195l, the ports at Tanggu were reorganized again into the "Tanggu New Port" (塘沽新港), and work started on re-dredging the navigation channel and rehabilitating four sea piers. On October 17, 1952, the Port reopened for traffic. At the time, the main channel was dredged to 6m depth, could handle ships of up to 7,000 DWT and had an annual throughput of only 800,000 tons -less than 1/500 of present capacity.
In the next decades, port expansion was slow. By 1956, throughput had reached 10 million tons, and it remained roughly at that level for next two decades. Even then, however, Tianjin Xingang remained a pioneer of port development in the People's Republic of China. In September 1973, Tianjin Port successfully opened up the first international container ship route in China. In 1980, Tianjin Port established the first dedicated container terminal in China.
period put enormous pressure on the rickety infrastructure of the Chinese ports. Congestion became serious enough to force reform by the central government. As part of this reform, in June 1, 1984, the Port of Tianjin was transferred from direct control of the Ministry of Communications to a "dual" system of shared central and local control.
This devolution entailed transferring line operations, human resources and financial responsibility to the municipal government of Tianjin, while the ministry of transport retain strategic planning and coordination duties.
On July 19, 1984, the Tianjin Port Bureau of the Department of Transportation was renamed the Tianjin Port Authority (天津港务局, TPA) Critically, this new port authority was given a degree of relative financial autonomy (a policy called "以收抵支、以港养港”, literally), in essence allowing the port to finance expansion from retained earnings.
Despite this partial liberalization, growth was very slow at the beginning. The port was bedeviled by both land and capital shortages, it became a relatively early recipient of World Bank
infrastructure development loans, which financed the modernization and expansion of several wharves. With progressive commercial success and access to capital, the port started to expand fast in both size and capacity.
Capacity and throughput increased in leaps and bounds. In 1988 throughput passed the 20 million ton milestone. In the ten years from 1993, annual throughput growth averaged 10 million tons every year, and in December 2001, the Port was the first port in North China to reach the 100 million tons throughput landmark, in 2004 it reached 200 million tons, in 2007 300 million tons and in 2010 400 million tons. The container handling capacity of the port increased from 0.4 million TEU in 1992, to 2.4 million TEU in 2002, 7.1 million TEU in 2007, and more than 10 million TEU in 2010.
The structure of the Port also changed. In 1992, Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Company was made into a joint stock company under the full ownership of the Tianjin Port Bureau. In 1996, it would be converted into the Tianjin Port Holdings Company (TPC) and listed in the Shanghai stock market. In 1997, Tianjin Development Holdings, which owned the container handling assets of the Port was listed in Hong Kong, assets which were spun out as the Tianjin Port Development Company (TPD) and listed in the Hong Kong exchange in 2006.
In 2001, as part of the widespread reform of all of China’s SOEs, the State Council passed guidelines requiring the separation of state administration and operation in all ports, by transforming the various Port Authorities into corporations. In 2003, Port Law was passed, which regulated their operation as fully commercial enterprises and permitted for the first time foreign ownership of port operators.
.
The TPA delayed corporatization
in order to steer the passing of the 11th five year development plan for the port. This transition was completed on June 3, 2004, when Tianjin Port became the last major port in China to transform its Port Authority into a corporation: the Tianjin Port (Group) Company (天津港（集团）有限公司, or TPG by its English acronym).
The financial tsunami
of 2008 hit Chinese ports particularly hard, as they depended heavily on foreign trade flows. The Tianjin Port did better than average due to its diversification: while container business plummeted, bulk trade (in particular iron ore) remained strong. Nevertheless, the crisis hit profits hard, and it convinced the Tianjin government to reorganize and streamline the structure of the Port, which they did in 2009 by having TPD (the smaller operator, but one with access to foreign capital markets) take over TPC. Simultaneously, ownership of TPD was transferred from Tianjin Development Holdings (a subsidiary of the Tianjin Ministry of Commerce) to TPG. By the time the merger was concluded, on February 4, 2010, all operations in the Tianjin Port had been consolidated under TPG.
The Dongjiang Port Area is being developed into a comprehensive complex with three parallel zones: the terminal area; a logistic processing zone associated with the bonded port area; and a comprehensive service zone which will include office space, residential space, and leisure facilities.
The leisure area will be centered on the cruiser terminal and yachting piers, and around an artificial beach (the Dongjiang Bay Scenic Area)
Nevertheless, industrial expansion further up the river will likely lead to some recovery in the number of available berths. There are plans for expansion, however, with the development of new industrial areas further upriver. Current plans call for six different production areas, with an area of 9.7 km2, a quayside length of 21 km, and a total of 70 berths of 5,000-3,000DWT capacity, for a total throughput of 2,42 million tons.
The Dagusha Channel (大沽沙航道)is wholly separate from the Main Channel. It is 27.5 km long from safe water to end of fairway. It was upgraded in December 2010 to a depth of 12.5m, increasing one-way traffic capacity from 50,000 DWT vessels to 100,000 DWT vessels. Current dredging is expanding the Channel to 200m bottom width and 14.8m depth, which will allow two-way all-tide traffic of 100,000DWT vessels. The long-term plan is to dredge the Channel up to a 200,000DWT capability.
The Haihe River Channel varies in depth between 4m to 8m with a minimum bottom width of 60m, and it can handle vessels of up to 5,000 DWT in the section between the Xingang Shiplock and the Haimen Bridge, and up to 3,000 DWT from the Haimen Bridge to the Second Tidal Barrier.
Three other channels (the Central Fishing Port Channel, the Gaoshaling Channel and the Nangang Channel) will be expanded and integrated into the Port fairway as these port zones become integrated into the greater Tianjin Port in the near future. The Nangang Channel was activated on July 2011 on a trial basis. At present it extends DDD and is dredged to a 5,000 DWT capacity, it is intended to reach 100,000 DWT capacity by as early as 2015.
Harbor basins are breakwater
-protected, and include the Channels and the approaches to the wharves. The Main Harbor Basin extends 16.5 km from the Xingang Shipping Lock to breakwater mouth, and there are four secondary basins within the main basin, formed by the four jutting piers of the Beijiang port area. The North Harbor Basin is 8.5 km long by 1,100-900m wide, and has two secondary basins (in construction). The Dagukou Harbor Basin is 14 km long, and tapers down from 1,500 to 900m wide as it goes up the old Haihe mouth. It also has two secondary basins (in construction).
The Dagukou North, South and Chemical Bulk anchorages are situated on both sides of the main shipping channel, to the east of the Dagu Lighthouse. These anchorages cater for the majority of the traffic, and can get very crowded. Collisions have occurred with some frequency in the past. The two deep water anchorage sites are further out into the deeper parts of the Bohai Bay. One anchorage for very large Capesize
vessels of more than 150,000DWT is shared with Tangshan Caofeidian
The last two anchorages (No5 and 6) serve the Dagusha channel. Both are located on the south side of the shipping channel. No6 covers 40 km2, has depth of 10-13m and anchors small and medium displacement vessels. No5 anchorage covers 20 km2 and has a depth of 16-18m, anchoring larger vessels. No6 anchorage is operational but still little used, No5 was recently activated (2011) but it is still considered "temporary".
in 1942, completed in 1943 and made operational by the Nationalist government after the war，in 1946. It has a width of 20.5m and a length of 180m. It allows passage to vessels up to 18.5m wide, limited to 17.5m at night and for ships carrying liquid bulk or otherwise dangerous cargoes.
Second, the Haihe Tidal Barrier , built in 1958, serves as a dam, flood control sluice and tide surge protection for the Haihe River. It is an open sluice design, with 8 gates and an average flow of 1200m3/s flow, maximum flow of 1689m3/s recorded in August 28, 1963. Last refurbished in 1999.
Third, the Tanggu Fishing Boat Lock , at the western end of the channel between Donggu and Lanjingdao Island. Built in 1959, it is 150m long, 14m wide, 8m deep, with a draft of 2m. It can handle ships of up to 200 gross tons of displacement. In 2011, the Fishing Boat Lock gates will be rebuilt to allow for larger road traffic between Donggu and Lanjingdao. Combined with the current wind-down of fishing activity in the Port, this construction work puts the operational future of the Lock in question.
The final hydraulic structure of the Tianjin Port is the Haihe Second Barrier at Dongnigucun , in the Jinnan district. The Second Barrier is also an open-type sluice barrier, with 8 gates allowing an average flow of 1200m3/s. The Barrier, opened in July 1984, closes ship traffic upriver into Tianjin city proper, and its erection resulted in the abandonment of 29.3 km of navigable channel.
and Port Landowner, and retains some of the old Port Authority's supervisory functions. TPG, directly or indirectly through its affiliates and subordinate units, runs almost all aspects of port operation. At present, it has 69 affiliated or subordinate units with 40,000 employees.
TPG also serves as Port Landlord, providing basic municipal services (including power, water and sewerage) and very wide services extending from construction materials to printing services. In this role, TPG maintains quasi-municipal authority over port areas.
The Tianjin Municipality People’s Government Port Services Office (天津市人民政府口岸服务办公室) was set up in May 2009 as a coordinating body in charge of streamlining port operations, in particular customs and inspection clearance procedures. The Port Services Office main duty is the coordination of port services, fostering collaboration between government offices and inspection units, and resolving conflicts and disputes among them (a duty which includes the power to issue emergency rulings to solve jurisdictional problems). The office is also the Port’s "foreign office", charged with fostering interchange and cooperation with other provinces (in particular the development of dry ports), and with foreign entities. Finally, the office is responsible for drafting the Port Development Plan and approving all development and expansion plans, developing streamline procedures and comprehensive joint clearance, the development of the Tianjin e-Port, etc.
Tianjin MSA carries out a wide array of duties regarding the safe management of port activities, including vessel traffic management and berth operations, navigational safety (including SAR, AtoN, navigational warnings, and management of the GMDSS), ship and crewing inspection (including Flag State Control and Port State Control obligations), local application of the China Ship Reporting System (CHISREP), management of waterways and underwater works, shore installation safety, dangerous goods handling, law enforcement patrolling, marine accident investigation, and hydrographic survey and charting.
for customs declaration, Border Inspection for migration formalities, China Inspection and Quarantine
for quarantine and fumigation, and the MSA for ship and crew safety regulations. Obtaining clearance from these so-called “One Customs Three Inspections” (一关三检) used to be quite a protracted process, and one of the continued foci of Port reform is to speed up the clearance procedures and reduce their burden.
Customs Clearance: The custom agencies responsible for the Port are: the Tianjin Xingang Customs (天津新港海关), headquartered at the Container Logistics Center; the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Customs (天津港保税区海关), headquartered at the FTZ, and the Dongjiang Bonded Port Customs (东疆保税港区海关), headquarted at the Dongjiang Joint Inspection Center. All are subordinate units of Tianjin Customs
(天津海关), which is responsible for the declaration, inspection, and duties collection for all international cargo, trade goods, luggage and postal items passing through the Port. This involves processing more than xM clearance forms a year, and efforts to streamline the process and to foster EDI
use and other forms of electronic clearance are a continuous theme for Port reform.
Maritime Safety Controls: The Ship Supervision Office of the Tianjin MSA (天津海事局船舶监督处) carries out the obligations of Port State Control
according to the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding, and the obligations of Flag State Control
according to the provisions of the Law of the Sea
. It is tasked with monitoring the shipworthiness, safety and appropriate crewing of all vessels entering jurisdictional waters. In 2006, Tianjin was the first jurisdiction in China to introduce PSC checkpoints in accordance to the Tokyo protocol. In 2010, the MSA checked and examined 17,324 international vessels, and introduced an international maritime electronic checking and examining system to expedite the process.
Quarantine and Health Inspections: The Tianjin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (天津出入境检验检疫局) or TJCIQ, is tasked with the health inspection, quarantine, disinfection and sterilization of all trade goods, foodstuffs and live plants and animals, packaging materials and international ships, and the health inspection and quarantine services for all entering ship personnel and visitors, as well as the quality and safety inspection of chemical ore, metals and other cargoes with established standards. TJCIQ has stations at Xingang Liumi, the Shipping Service Center, Dongjiang, Nanjiang, Lingang, and Tanggu.
All ships must report to quarantine authorities at least three hours before anchoring, reporting the vessel's particulars, risk factors, and any suspected conditions among passengers or crew. Pratique
and SSCC exceptions are available, but the SARS and Swine Flu
crises increased the rigor of quarantine practices in China.
Migration and border control: Border control is the purview of the Tianjin Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection General Station (天津出入境边防检查总站), generally referred to as “Tianjin Immigration Inspection” or TJBJ by its Chinese initials. While it falls under the direct authority of the Ministry of Public Security, it is organizationally separate from the Tianjin Port PSB, employing 800 separate personnel. In the Port, the TJBJ has five local stations at Xingang Liumi, Donggang, Dongjiang, Nanjiang (which also covers the CNOOC oil platforms and the Lingang area) and Tanggu. Border Inspection deploys its own patrol boats (hulls marked Zhongguo Bianjian 12xxx), and can run immigration formalities while ships are at anchorage.
for all matters of national and international Maritime law
, including all forms of maritime contracts, torts and offences.
The Court is based on TEDA, close to the Port, and it has also set up an “express window” at the Tianjin Port Service Center that provides legal consultation on matters of custom clearance, dispute resolution services, in situ summary issuance of emergency injunctions, protective writs, payment orders and similar, as well as a summary judgment service for simple and petty cases.
The VTS Center is located in an 88m tall control tower at the eastern end of the East Pier (38°58'31.471"N 117°47'12.461"E). Its control area extends 20 nautical miles (37 km) from the tower. All ships equipped with suitable communication equipment are required to submit to its shipping control authority. The VTS Center's main radio contact is on VHF
Channel 9 (Channel 65 for speaking after contact), all ships must maintain watch on that channel while on the port area.
Tianjin VTS controls the traffic by means of several overlapping systems. The Radar Surveillance System has a range of 20 nm and operates from two radar stations (situated at the control tower and at the MSA base in the Nanjiang island). The VHF system has a range of 25 nm and transmit from the Coastal Radio Station. Since March 2010，the VTS center operates a full AIS
system, with a range of 25 nm. As of 2009, the VTS Center had five CCTV sites (at the VTS Control Tower, the Nanjiang Radar Station, the Bohai Oil Tower, the Coastal Radio Building, and the Port Authority Yuhaiyuan Dormitory, the last two on the Haihe shore) for a total of 10 traffic monitoring cameras. Integrating these vessel traffic information sources, the traffic data processing system has a theoretical capacity of tracking 10,000 ships at a time.
The VTS Center also runs a hydro-meteorology data system (real time data from over 25 stations and gauges) and has the primary duty of passing along to all port operators any impending severe weather warnings.
7 or higher), wide ships (75m width total, or any one 45m beam) long tows (200m or more), or dangerous cargoes triggering one-way restrictions. Maximum speed in the main channel is set at 13 knots westward and 15 knots eastward, minimum speed at 5 knots. The Chuanzhadong Channel's maximum speed is 8 knots. Keel clearance must be 1.7 m or more at the Main Channel, 0.8 m at the Chuanzhadong Channel, and 0.5 m in the rest of the fairway. All ships must display flags or light signals according to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
and the International Code of Signals
.
All vessels must report their ETA
to the VTS Center at least 24 hours prior to entry into the VTS area (normally through their shipping agents), and apply for authorization. This initial report must contain the vessel’s ETA, name, nationality, call sign, draft, type, size, cargo situation and other information as needed. Position reports must be made at the following points:
Vessels are prohibited from entering or leaving the port, or shifting berths without special authorization from the VTS Center if 1) visibility is less than 1000 meters 2) There are hazardous icing conditions 3) wind force is 9 or over.
Port traffic is heavy overall, with 140-160 new oceangoing ship arrivals per day. In 2010, the port had a total of 97,276 ship movements, and around 70,000 ship movements involving ships over 60m LOA. Despite all the capacity increases, there are still some bottlenecks in the traffic. As of March 18, 2011, anchorage waiting time for a ship bound for the Nanjiang terminals was 2–4 days
The pilotage area includes all the Haihe fairway from Xingang Shiplock to Haihe Second Barrier, all of the Xingang fairway, BZ28-1 and BZ34 oil fields in the Bohai Bay, and the SZ 36 oilfield on Liaodong bay.
The Tianjin Port Pilot Center （天津港引航中心）is located in Tanggu, close to the Port Hospital, and is in charge of the training, certification and management of the harbor pilot corps, and of helping plan and coordinate pilotage operations. It is an autonomous agency directly under the Tianjin Transportation and Port Authority, having been separated from TPG in 2007. As with the rest of Tianjin Port, the Pilot Center has experienced very fast expansion in recent years. In 2002 it had 43 certified pilots, in 2007 it had 72 pilots (19 senior pilots), in 2008 it had 114 pilots,， in 2009 it had 121 pilots, and by April 2011 it employed 141 pilots, including 23 senior pilots, 19 first-class pilots, 29 second-class pilots, 37 third-class pilots and 16 trainee pilots, plus 17 administrative staff.
The Center runs three Pilot Stations, for Beijiang, Nanjiang and Dongjiang. Pilots are dispatched using 5 specialized pilot ships (administered by the Tug & Lighter Company) or, since 2004, through helicopter shuttle, into the anchorage embarkation points. These pilot embarkation/debarkation points are specified in the regulations as follows:
The Tianjin Port Pilots guided 23,792 ship movements in 2007, they had surpassed 30,000 ship movements by 2009, and traffic has kept on growing since.
(AtoN) system is fairly dense, and growing rapidly. The MSA Tianjin Aids to Navigation Office (天津海事局天津航标处) is responsible for the maintenance of all navaids within the Tianjin area. In 2004, the AtoN office controlled 141 navaids in the Tianjin jurisdiction, including 3 lighthouses, 12 light beacons, 22 lead markers, 44 day beacons, 55 light buous, 1 NDB station, 1 RBN/DGPS station, 3 radar transponders, 2 large AtoN ships, 2 small AtoN ship and 1 survey ship operating in two wharves. A big reform in 2008 greatly increased the AtoN density to accommodate the needs of the two-way 250,000DWT channels, so by 2010, the number of navigational aids had gone up to 245: 3 lighthouses, 57 light beacons, 22 lead markers, 148 light buoys, 5 articulated lights, 1 RBN/DGPS station, 2 AIS centers (Tianjin and Caofeidian), and 6 radar transponders. The AtoN maintenance fleet is now 7 strong. Expansion continues apace, and the recently commissioned Nangang channel was recently (July 2011) fully marked with 43 buoys.
The Port's channels are now fully laterally marked
to IALA
Region A (red to port) standards. Racon
and AIS
marked buoys are used at the critical turns and junctions of the fairway. The Haihe is lined with 26 shore beacons (44 including daymarks
) to provide guidance for the highly meandering river channel: left bank uses black and white piles flashing a white light in morse code A (•–) every 6 seconds, while the right bank uses red and white piles with white lights flashing morse code D (–••) every 8 seconds.
Winter buoys are in place from December 1 to March 1 every year, and placing and replacing the buoyage has become a very extensive operation. The 2011 change from winter to warm weather buoys involved replacing 136 buoys.
built on 1978 on the spot where a lightship
had been moored since 1878. The light is a cylindrical concrete tower daymarked with narrow horizontal red stripes on white, and riprap
protection at its base. It has a 36m focal height (38m pile height), its light is a white flash at 10 second intervals with a range of 17 nautical miles. It has a racon
signal of Morse
K (–•–). Fog horns were uninstalled in 1991. The lighthouse is situated at the western end of the Dagukou anchorage, mooring is prohibited for one mile around it.
The Main Channel Lead Lights （天津港主航道导标) are two sets of shore beacons that provide bearing guidance for ships entering the main basin (roughly from buoys 31-32). It consists of two sets of 7 lights each, the center-line lights marking the main lead line, and the other marking the edges of the two-way navigable channel. The Xingang Range Front is a skeletal tower daymark
ed with three black diamonds, located at the First Harbor Engineering Wharf No 1, in the north side of the Nanjiang Island. It has a focal height of 28m, and its light is white, occulting on a 5 second cycle. The Xingang Range Rear is a square skeletal tower with identical daymarks, located within the Bohai Oil Company compound, in the south side of Nanjiang island. It has a focal height of 52m, and its light is white with a 2s isochronic cycle. It has a racon emitting morse code M (––). The two lights align at a bearing of 281°36', which marks the main channel from the Dagu lighthouse up to the bend at the beginning of the Chuanzhadong channel.
The Chuanzha Midline Lead Lights (新港船闸中线导标), located on the northeastern shore of the Lanjiadao peninsula are one on the northeastern part of the Haihe south shore. The Rear Light has a focal height of 40m, an isochronic 4 second cycle, and an nominal range of 3 nautical miles. The Front Light has a focal height of 30m, an isochronic 2 second cycle, and a nominal range of 3 nautical miles. The two lights are aligned at a 294°22' bearing. The lights mark the route into the Chuanzhadong Channel and into the Xingang Shiplock, and can be used from buoy 44 on.
and Yellow
seas, and is responsible for the hydrographic surveying, monitoring and charting of all waters and shipping channels in the area.
The Hydrographic Brigade has two survey ships (Haice 051 and Haice 0502), and recently started to use UAV for surveying
The Tianjin Weather Bureau operates both as a public service and a commercial enterprise. In 2009 it started to set up a number of “communication systems” to speedily send weather information to critical users. Of these, the Tianjin Port Meteorological Information Comprehensive Service System (天津港气象信息综合服务系统) and the Bohai Sea Oceanic Forecasting Service System (环渤海海洋预报服务系统) cater specifically to the need of port and shipping operators. The Weather Bureau also runs additional privately contracted weather monitoring for the Port, in particular deploying 150 automatic wind observation points to provide real-time data to the Dispatching Center (as wind strongly affects shipping operations).
The Tianjin Station of the Oceanic Environmental Monitoring Center (天津海洋环境监测中心站) of the State Oceanic Administration
(formerly the Tanggu Marine Station), located at the Port, carries out the environmental monitoring, surveying and forecasting duties, including red tide
prediction.
and Differential GPS
service to all maritime users.
The station utilizes a 200W Amplidan 15770 transmitter with a 35 m x 60 m T-antenna
. The station was established in December 2001 and last refurbished in 2009.
Tianjin Coastal Radio: The Tianjin MSA Communications and Information Center (天津海事局通信信息中心) runs the Tianjin Coastal Station (天津海岸电台，Callsign: XSV; Call: Tianjin Radio; MMSI
004121100). The Station is in charge of the communicational obligations of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System
in the Port’s jurisdiction, supports the SAR Center’s communication needs, and supports the MSA duties of coordination and communications. It also provides public maritime correspondence services to ships within its range.
The Coastal Radio broadcasts from three antenna complexes: Tanggu Control Station（塘沽新港控台）is the central control center, located on the north shore of the Haihe about a kilometer upriver from the Xingang Shiplock. The Junliangcheng Antenna Tower (军粮城发信天线塔）in Dongli has the more powerful long-distance MF/HF transmitters. Finally, the Huanggang Receiver Station（黄港收信台）is the main listening station.
coordinating duties in Port waters. Although it falls under the direct jurisdiction of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center of the Ministry of Communication rather than the TJMSA, the TJMSA has administrative authority and both units share leadership personnel. The SAR Center is located in downtown Tianjin, relatively far from the port, and is set up as an emergency command center, sharing use of the MSA's VTS, communication, AIS and CCTV systems. The SAR Center staffs a main base and four branch offices. It can be contacted via VHF channel 24, or using the specialized maritime emergency phone number 12395 (a number effective in most of China).
The Tianjin Search and Rescue Base of the China Rescue and Salvage Beihai Bureau (built in 1995) is the front-line SAR operations agency. It is located at the western end of the Tianjin Harbor Basin, on the Nanjiang island, next to the CNOOC Bohai Oil Compound. It covers 0.65 hectares and had a staff of 67 in 2009.
Tianjin SARC keeps three dynamic standby stations permanently staffed. These three stations are:
All government patrol ships, and all TPG harbor craft are available for search and rescue on MSA or SAR Center authority. Ships belonging to CNOOC Bohai and other service companies based on the Port are also routinely asked to assist in all cases of accident or mishap, as well as to participate in regular disaster preparation exercises.
Air assets are relatively scarce. Closest China SAR seaplanes or helicopters are located at Yantai and Dalian. Tianjin SARC has in the past used commercial helicopters from CITIC Offshore Helicopter Service (the helicopter service provider for CNOOC Bohai) for SAR missions instead.
In December 2010, Tianjin Port started China's first volunteer Search and Rescue corps in China, at present composed mostly of specialists from within port employees.
On behalf of the Firefighting Detachment, the Tianjin Port Tug & Lighter Company operates two dual-purpose tugs/fireships (Jingang Xiaotuo 1 and Jinganglun 30), plus five other tugs that have significant fire-fighting capacity. Four more vessels are under construction. All harbor vessels with suitable pumps can be pressed into service in case of maritime conflagration.
Harmful Substance Spill Control: Tianjin MSA is the Port’s “National Operational Contact Point” pursuant to MARPOL
, and must be contacted (VHF 9) in all shipborne pollution incidents. The MSA is setting up an oil spill control center (市海上溢油及化学品事故应急反应中心), and stockpiles of materials with a target of being able to rapidly control spills of up to 2,000 tons (a mid-size spill). SOA has overlapping authority regarding spills and pollution, usually concentrated on platforms and pipelines incidents.
Emergency Medical Assistance: The Tianjin Port Hospital（天津港口医院) is the primary provider of emergency medical care in the port. It is a 314 bed comprehensive hospital, owned by TPG, that is specially licensed to deal with infectious disease outbreaks, quarantine and maritime accident trauma. Its orthopedic trauma department is especially well ranked. It also has special provisions to cater to foreigners. Maritime Telemedical Assistance Service can be requested by messaging "MEDICO XSV" by radiotelephony (preceded with PAN PAN
for urgent cases), or sending "2012 XSV CN MED+" by Radiotelex (prefixing “XXX” for urgent cases).
Tianjin Port PSB has its own waterborne law enforcement unit running its own patrol boats, which are berthed on a floating pontoon station (天津港公安局水上治安派出所) built on a converted floating crane, currently located on the K1 berth of the Tianjin Port Passenger Terminal.
has jurisdiction over the Bohai and Laizhou Bays, and all the coastal areas of Tianjin and Hebei. It monitors environmental damage, illegal use of the sea resources, violation of maritime regulations, damage to marine facilities, and also monitors sea ice, red tides, and other hazardous oceanic conditions. It deploys its own patrol boats (hull numbers ‘’’Haijian xx’’’), and a new base is under construction.
Fisheries Law Enforcement Command (FLEC) is a branch of the Fisheries bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture in charge of controlling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
(公安边防总队), also known in English as the China Border Troops. The Border Troops are a branch of the People’s Armed Police under the direct control of the PSB. The Binhai Border Troops staff three stations located within the Port area (Donggu, Gaoshaling, Beitang), with five more under construction (Dongjiang, Lingang, Nangang, Binhai Tourist Area and Central Fishing Port).
The Tianjin Border Protection Maritime Police Flotilla (天津公安边防总队海警支队), usually called the China Coast Guard
in English, is the maritime branch of the Public Security Border Troops. The Maritime Police covers a jurisdictional area of 24,000 km2. Patrol boats (hull numbers haijing 12xxx) operate from the Border Troop wharf in Yujiapu in the Haihe, from the SAR wharf in Nanjiang, a new pontoon wharf in Nangang, and soon from now under-construction wharves in the Lingang Port Area and in the Beitangkou area. The Maritime Police has law enforcement, interdiction and search and rescue duties that overlap the remits of the MSA, Tianjin Port PSB, SOA, and FLEC. However, only the Maritime Police patrol vessels are armed, and the Maritime Police has first line jurisdiction in gendarmerie missions such as terrorism and piracy.
(天津市人民政), through the Tianjin SASAC (Tianjin State Assets Supervision and Administration Committee—天津国有资产监督管理委员会), which is the full owner of the Tianjin Port (Group) Company (TPG). TPG's board is appointed by the Tianjin government. TPG is the effective holding company and main Port Operator
, and it owns or has a stake on the majority of the Port's various operating outfits.
Since the 2009 merger, TPG’s main operating subsidiary is Tianjin Port Development Co. Ltd (TPD), which in turn is the majority shareholder of Tianjin Port Holdings Co. Ltd (TPC).
TPG has been injecting operational assets to TPC for several years, and since 2009 to TPD (most recently the Shihua Crude Oil Terminal). This has created somewhat of a functional division. The listed TPD, directly or through TPC, controls all terminals and direct cargo-handling operations. TPG still directly controls most of the utility, support and ancillary units related to the Port, and retains control of strategic planning. TPG is directly or indirectly a party in 53 joint ventures
on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
in 1996.
Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited (天津港发展有限公司) was incorporated in the Cayman Islands
and listed as a red chip
stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
in 2005.
Tianjin Port Finance Company operates as the in-house financial service provider for the Group. Besides basic services as discounting of commercial notes, bill settlement
and payments clearing
, the TJPFC redirect funds between units of the Group in the form of loans, which circumvents the legal prohibition of direct financial transfers between members of a conglomerate.
The subsidiaries and partial-ownership partners of TPG are involved in all facets of port operation, including production, shipping agency, cargo agency, cargo handling, storage and transportation, infrastructure management, communications and information services, financial services, power supply, real estate development, health care, training of cadres and workers, education, port security, transportation, fire protection, port facilities management, environmental management, etc.
All production terminals are operated by autonomous companies that are either fully owned subsidiaries or joint ventures of TPG, with the exception of the “type 2” river terminals that are often specialized single-company wharves. A large number of logistics companies, both affiliated and unaffiliated with TPG run the cargo processing side.
Foreign flag ships must engage a shipping agency, and the agency has responsibility of communicating with the Operations Department directly, giving notice of the vessel name and registration, nature of the ship, ship specifications, captain, goods type and quantity, and special needs (such as traffic diversion, tugs) 72 and 24 hours prior to arrival. Departures and in-harbor ship movements must be notified before 1130 on the day prior to movement (planning day runs from 1800 to 1800). Emergency and short-notice movements require special permission.
CNOOC Bohai Oil maintains a flotilla of 110 offshore support vessels (OSV), which are available for emergency work under MSA authority. Two of their floating cranes (800 ton and one 500 ton) can be commercially engaged for harbor duty.
and Yellow
seas, and is responsible for the hydrographic surveying, monitoring and charting of all waters and shipping channels in the area. The Hydrographic Brigade has two survey ships (Haice 051 and Haice 0502), and recently (2010) started to use UAV for surveying
Dredging: The Tianjin Dredging Company (天津航道局) is the organic waterway management company of the Tianjin Port Group. As of January 2010, the TDC deployed 100 boats, and had the largest dredging capacity of China, with a capacity of 300 million cubic meters and more than 500,000 KW of vessel power. Despite these numbers, the scale of fairway expansion and land reclamation in the Port means that several other construction companies operate large numbers of dredging vessels as well.
Dredging the Haihe Channel is the responsibility of the Tianjin Municipal Water Management Bureau (天津市水务局)，which maintains both navigability and river flow capacity (set at 800 m3/s). The Water Management dredgers operate from wharves at the Second Haihe Barrier and at the Haihe Tidal Barrier.
Bunkerage: The main bunker oil provider in Tianjin Port is Tianjin Chimbusco. Chimbusco had a monopoly on the supply of bonded bunker
oil (i.e. for foreign vessels) in China until 2006. Tianjin Chimbusco (a TPG subsidiary) retained its exclusive rights in Tianjin until 2009, and the end of the monopoly resulted in a black gold rush of competing bunkerage companies. Sinopec Zhoushan entered the Tianjin market in October 2010, in December 2010 SinoBunker did as well, and in June 2011, China Changjiang Bunker followed suit. This sudden rise in competition resulted in a serious price war and crashing prices in 2011. Most forms of maritime fuels are available, mostly IFO 120CST, 180CST and 380CST, MDG, and MDO. Bunkering operations are done by tanker barge, as most berths do not have fueling equipment. Equally, drinking water is mostly delivered by barge.
Chandlery and Supplies:Several dozen ship chandlers
are capable of providing all necessary ship stores and deck and engine supplies both at berth or at anchorage. The oldest international chandler is Tianjin Ocean Shipping Supply company (天津市外轮供应公司), owned by the city. Most spare parts are available locally, and special orders can be flown in easily.
As the port of a very major city, facilities available to crews on shore leave are of course very extensive. Replacement crews are available at all times.
Cleaning and Sanitation Services: Bilge
, slops and ballast water disposal is a major pollution hazard for the Bohai Bay, and it is tightly regulated by the MSA. Only specially authorized enterprises can engage in their removal and disposal, or in tank cleanup. Nevertheless, illegal dumping of ballast water is a persistent problem and one of the Port's major law enforcement challenges.
Tianjin Port Harbor Service Company (天津港港口服务公司) is the Group’s organic “housekeeping” service, providing garbage disposal and cabin, hold and bedding clean-up for ships at berth. Many other outfits are available for all sorts of cleaning, disinfection and deck maintenance.
Shipping Agencies: Engaging a shipping agent is mandatory for all foreign flagged ships, and Tianjin has several dozen such outfits operating at present. The largest agents are Tianjin Penavico (外轮代理公司), owned by TPG, and Tianjin Sinoagent (天津船务代理有限公司), a subsidiary of Tianjin Sinotrans
. Agencies have fairly extensive obligations as intermediaries for most paperwork procedures involving ship operators and the government or TPG, as well as their traditional duties of arranging ship supply and cargo handling.
The Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service District (天津国际贸易与航运服务区) is located in the North Basin area of the Beijiang port area, south of the Tianjin Port Container Logistics Center, adjacent to the business and services district of TEDA. The Service District is 900m east-west and 700m north-south, for a total of 88 hectares, (to expand to 100 hectares long-term). The Service District is composed of nine high-rise buildings, including the TPG main office building and the International Shipping Service Center.
The Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service Center (天津国际贸易与航运服务中心) provides "one-stop" service for six main aspects of shipping and trade: international trade, government services, market operations, information distribution, social supervision and personnel exchanges, and financial services. was put into operation on November 7, 2005, and moved to its current purpose-built, 59000 m2 building in 2007.
The main role of the Center is to centralize the clearing process, aggregating 270 government service windows from 14 government agencies, including customs, inspection and quarantine, maritime safety, border control, traffic control, maritime court, electronic customs clearance, business taxes, state audit and supervision, and labor management. various TPG companies, banks and insurers, trading and shipping companies, logistics operators, cargo and shipping agents. covering and other units and departments, as well as business services for international trade, shipping, logistics, transportation, customs declaration, shipping agents, cargo agents, finance, insurance, consulting, legal services, business services and other related businesses and institutions. A total of 70 organizations with 1380 employees operate in the Center. The Center also runs the Tianjin Shipping Index (天津航运指数), which provides shipping cost data for all of North China.
The terminal and ancillary buildings have 15,000 square meters of built surface.
The terminal has 3 berths of 8-12m depth that can serve passenger ships, Ro-Ro ferries, car carriers and cruise ships. K-1 Berth (the westernmost berth of the terminal) has a floating bridge that provides all-tide service to Ro-Ro vessels. It is also the most common loading berth for harbor pilots.
Four main regular ferry lines leave Tianjin, serviced by a fleet of three Ro-Ro ferry boats. There are two international destinations, Kobe
in Japan and Incheon
in South Korea, and two national destinations Yantai
in Shandong
Province and Dalian
in Liaoning Province, which (at present) only run in the summer. The ships and general route schedules are as follows:
The Tianjin Haihe Jinlu Youchuan company operates from the Sightseeing Boats Pier at the other side of the main basin. It operates two ships, the Haijing (海景号) with capacity for 150 passengers and the Jinhai (津海号) with capacity for 184 passengers. as of April 2011.
, is a large white GFRC
-clad building designed to mimic the flow of white silk on an ocean breeze. The 60,000m2 terminal houses port administration, shipping agencies, restaurants, hotels and other services, and its migration and custom facilities are capable of processing 4,000 passengers at a time, for an annual capacity of 500,000 passengers. At present, the Homeport has two berths capable of accommodating ships up to 220,000 gt -enough to receive even the largest currently operating cruisers.
The Tianjin Cruise Homeport is the fourth cruise homeport in China, the first in Northern China, and currently the largest in Asia. It will be capable of providing all the bunkering, resupplying and maintenance needs of its homeported cruise ships. At present, two major cruise companies, Italy’s Costa Cruises
and US-Norway's Royal Caribbean International Cruises, will make Tianjin its homeport for their cruises in Asia. Two cruisers, Costa’s Costa Romantica and Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas will be homeported at Tianjin during the summer.
The Binhai Ocean One Yachting Club (滨海一洋游艇会) is being built at the southern end of the Dongjiang Scenic Area's artificial beach. It is planned to become a yachting port with 700-berths plus an extra 200 pile mooring slots. The first 71 berths are supposed to be completed by the end of 2011. The associated yachting club will be part of the Dongjiang entertainment complex, and target leisure users.
The Sino-Australia Royal Yacht City （中澳皇家游艇城）is a 1000-berth development （to be completed in 2012) in the Tianjin Central Fishing Port. This project intends to create a "Northern Yacht Industrial Center" that clusters yacht manufacturing, sales and marinas all in one. At present, its club intends to target the wealthiest clienteles.
The Hi-speed Tianjin Yacht City （海斯比天津游艇城） in the Binhai Tourist Area plans to add 3000 berths, on 66.7 ha of development, focusing on high-speed boats, sailboats and high-performance yachts. The 66.7 ha site will include diving services, yacht rentals, sport fishing, racing events, and other sport and leisure activities.
Tanggu port area was one of the earliest modern shipbuilding areas of China. The still-functioning Taku Dockyard (now Tianjin City Shipyard) was founded in 1880, and is the oldest modern dockyard in Northern China. Many small shipyards operated in the Haihe region, but most have closed in recent years，or will soon close to make way for the large development projects of the Binhai Urban Core.
The main ship repair facility in the port is the CSIC Tianjin Xingang Shipyard. Founded in 1939, it is located at the very end of the main harbor, next to the Haihe shiplock. Immediately next to it is the CCCC Bomesc Maritime Industry's facility (built in 2007). On the Nanjiang region, Singapore’s Sembawang Shipyard
entered on the first foreign joint shipyard project in China in 1997, in partnership with Bohai Oil. That shipyard in now the CNOOC Bohai Oil BOHIC subsidiary.
Currently under construction in the Lingang area is the Xingang Shipbuilding and Repair Base, an L-shaped facility taking over a 300ha area and 3900 m of coastline around Basin 1 of the Lingang harbor. The Xingang Shipyard will relocate to the new location once it is complete. The first dry dock is already completed and operational,and in 2011 produced 18 ships of 57,000 DWT or less. Once the Base is fully operational in 2015, it is expected to be able to produce up to 5,000,000 DWT of new vessel construction, repair 200 ships a year, and have sales of over 2 billion USD. Bomesc and the Xinhe Shipyard are also building shipbuilding/repair bases in the Lingang area facilities, and it is hoped by the Tianjin development authorities that Lingang will become the largest shipbuilding cluster in North China.
The chief logistics unit of the Port Group is Tianjin Logistics Development Co., established in 2009 by merging the Tianjin Port Storage and Distribution Company (天津港货运公司) with other Group logistics assets. TLD runs 1,800,000 m2 of storage yard, with a capacity for 32,000 TEU of containers, and is responsible for the establishment and management of the dry port network and the establishment of intermodal routes, as well as being the principal drayage
provider.
A major expansion of intermodal capacity will come with the completion of the Third Port Railway (进港三线) project servicing Dongjiang and the Container Logistics Center. The new line will terminate at the Tianjin Xingang North Railway Container Central Station (天津新港北铁路集装箱中心站), which is located in 140ha of land in the Dongjiang area, directly north of the Huicheng terminal, and is expected to be completed in 2012. The Xingang North Station will be purpose-built for the intermodal transfer and management of containers, and it will be supported by a new large automated marshalling yard in Beitang (北塘西编组站).
Highways and Roads: The internal roads in the Port carry a enormously heavy, noisy and noisome flow of traffic, and traffic jams are not uncommon at certain bottlenecks. The internal roads at the three main Port areas a broken grid pattern, the east-west roads connecting with the expressways that feed the port. The main north-south roads are the Yuejin road transfixing the Container Logistics Center, the Meizhou (Americas) Road in the Dongjiang Area, and the
The backbone road of the Port is the Haibin Expressway (S11, 海滨高速), which runs north-south and roughly represents the Port’s western boundary. As the expressway follows the original coastline, most of the land east of the road is reclaimed land, and thus belonging to the Port. The main east-west feeder roads are the S40 Jingjintang Expressway
(S40, 京津塘高速), which merges into the Jingmen road; the Jinbin Expressway
(S13, 津滨高速) and the G103
Highway, which both merge into the Xingang Fourth Road; and the S30 Jingjin Expressway (京津高速), which becomes the Jishuanggang road and then the Xingang 8th Road into Dongjiang. In the south, the Tianjin Avenue and the Jinpu Expressway (S50) connect into the Nanjiang and Lingang areas.
These feeder roads connect with the extremely thick Beijing-Tianjin road hub, with seven radial roads from Beijing and XX from Tianjin. Of these, the Jinji Expressway
(S1) is one the main alternative routes into Beijing (through Pinggu) and the Northwest （through the 6th Ring Road and the G6 expressway
), and the Changzhen Expressway
(G25) is the main North-South connector.
Water Routes: The deep water routes into the Port pass through a Traffic Separation Scheme
south of Caofeidian, and can be quite a crowded waterway. The possibility of rehabilitating the northern parts of the Grand Canal resurface as speculation on a regular basis in relation to the South–North Water Transfer Project.
Internal Waterways: The three main port areas are fairly poorly connected by road, requiring rather long detours to transport any cargo or equipment between them. While several bridges and tunnels directly linking Dongjiang with Beijiang and Nanjiang areas are projected for future development, these are still in early planning stages. To help relieve this internal bottleneck, in April 2010 the Port introduced a lighter
route connecting Nanjiang (N-10 berth) and Beijiang (Tianjin Container Terminal), using one heavy barge (7800 gt, 200 TEU). Another regular lighter route connecting Beijiang with Dongjiang was established on September 2010.
Airports: The Port is 30 minutes away from Tianjin International
, and 120 minutes from the Beijing International
. Two small general aviation aerodromes —Tanggu Airport （塘沽机场） and Binhai Dongfang General Heliport (滨海东方通用直升机场)— provide offshore helicopter shuttles and other services to Port operators.
The Tianjin Port Bulk Logistics Center (天津港散货物流中心) opened on 2000, built on 26.8 km2 of former salt flats to the south of Donggu. It serves as a large storage and distribution area for coal, ore and other bulk cargoes. As of April 2011, there were 268 enterprises operating within it. The Bulk Logistics Center is being relocated south, to the Nangang area, in order to free its land for urban development (i.e. the Binhai Central New Town - 滨海中部新城)
The 12-5 plan envisages six large logistics parks in the port area by 2015: the Container Logistics and Bulk Cargo Centers will be upgraded to “Parks” (with additional policy privileges), joined by the newly established Nangang Chemical Logistics Park (南港化工物流园区), Lingang Industrial ProLogis Logistics Park (临港工业普洛斯物流园区), and the Central Fishing Port Logistics Park (中心渔港物流园区).
, Henan
, Shanxi
, Shaanxi
, Ningxia
, Gansu
, Qinghai
, Tibet
and Xinjiang
. Tianjin is also one of the railheads of the Eurasian Land Bridge
.While officially the port of Lianyungang
is the start of the Chinese branch of the Land Bridge, Tianjin is often identified as the start of the Bridge in publicity material: as the Bridge is a route using existing rail lines rather than a dedicated purpose-built line, strictly speaking all Chinese ports can qualify as railheads. In keeping with the goal of becoming North China's Trade and Logistic Center, the Port has been expanding its intermodal
transport capacity, and deepening its presence in inland regions through dedicated lines, dry ports and direct partnerships.
TPL owns and operates ten different scheduled railway routes, dispatching 50-car (100 TEU) trains to 10 different cities in China: Xi'an
, Chengdu
, Taiyuan
, Urumqi
, Baotou
, Shizuishan, Erenhot
, Alashankou
, Manzhouli
, the last three being border crossings. In the first three quarters of 2010, these dedicated train lines carried 143,000 TEU, 46,000 TEU of which went to Eurasian Bridge destinations.
Middle Term Plans: For the Eleventh Five-Year plan period (2011–2015), the Tianjin Port Group plans to invest CNY45 billion (US$6.8 billion)in port and shipping facilities, with the intention of adding 214 million metric tons and 2.85 million TEU of throughput capacity.
As well as many new berths, fairway shipping lanes will be expanded to a 765 m width and 21 m depth by 2012, allowing for two-way traffic of 300,000DWT vessels. Support facilities are also being expanded, with 5.3 million square meters of container stack yard space, increased logistic processing capacity (including expansion of the dry port
system), and expansion of the shipping services center. By 2015, cargo throughput should be at least 550Mt, and container throughput should be up to 17 million TEU per year.
A particularly significant part of the five year plan is the development of the Dongjiang Bonded Port Area into a true "free trade port," (自由贸易港), combining the five logistic functional areas (international transshipment, international distribution, international procurement, international entrepot trade and export processing) with the development of the shipping and trade services and the leisure and tourism areas. This would include fostering tax-free shopping, and tourism and leisure centered on the scenic area, yachting club and the Cruise Homeport.
Long Term Plans：The more long term plans for the development of Tianjin Port are both monumental in scale, and consistent with the ambitious pace of change of the last decade. According to the "2010-2030 Comprehensive Plan for the Port of Tianjin", approved in late 2010, Tianjin Port will expand to include nine port areas, the five present ones plus Gaoshaling (高沙岭港区), Dagang (大港港区) and Hangu (汉沽港区)Port Areas. This "One Port, Nine Areas" expansion will entail integrating the port areas of the already in-development Dagang TEDA Development Area, the Tianjin Lingang Economic Area and the Tianjin Central Fishing Port into the a greater Tianjin Port.
According to this plan, by 2020 Tianjin Port would extend from north (Hangu) to south (Dagang) for a distance of almost 90 km, with five independent shipping channels extending to the east all the way to the 20m isobath line. By 2030, the planned land area of the Port will be 245 square km, with 200 km of quays and a staggering 390 production berths. If these plans are realized, almost the whole of the Tianjin Municipality coast will form a single, continuous port and logistic center built almost exclusively on reclaimed land, in all likelihood the largest artificial port on earth.
, Netherlands
Barcelona, Spain
Incheon, South Korea
Kobe
, Japan
Marseille
, France
Melbourne
, Australia
Montreal
, Canada
Philadelphia
, USA Tacoma
, USA Tokyo
, Japan
Trieste
, Italy
Zeebrugge
, Belgium
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. It is located on the western shore of the Bohai Bay
Bohai Bay
Bohai Bay is one of the three bays forming the Bohai Gulf, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea, in northeast China. It borders Hebei province and Tianjin Municipality...
, centered on the estuary of the Haihe River, 170 km south east of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and 60 km east of Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
city. It is the largest man-made port in mainland China, and one of the largest in the world. It covers 107 square kilometers of land surface, with over 31.9 km of quay shoreline and 140 production berths at the end of 2010.
Tianjin Port handled 413 million tons of cargo and 10.1 million TEU
Twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
of containers in 2010, making it the fourth largest port by throughput tonnage in the planet, and the eleventh in container throughput. This makes it the third largest port in China, behind the merged Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
Port of Ningbo
Port of Ningbo is one of the most important and busiest ports in mainland China. It is located on the rich coastal province of Zhejiang. The port is at the crossroad of the north-south shipping route and the important waterway of the Yangtze River...
and the Port of Shanghai
Port of Shanghai
The Port of Shanghai, located in the vicinity of Shanghai, comprises a deep-sea port and a river port.In 2010, Shanghai port overtook Singapore port to become the world's busiest container port...
, and sixth in container throughput. The port trades with more than 600 ports in 180 countries and territories around the world. It is served by over 115 regular container lines. run by 60 liner companies, including all the top 20 liners. Capacity is increasing at a high rate, with 550-600Mt of throughput capacity expected by 2015.
The port is part of the Binhai New Area
Binhai New Area
Binhai New Area ，short for Binhai is a major economic development zone within the jurisdiction of Tianjin municipality in China. Binhai New Area locates on the east coast of Tianjin and center of Circum-Bohai-Sea Region.Binhai New Area is a new growth pole in china, and maintain an annual growth...
district of Tianjin Municipality, the main special economic zone of Northern China, and it lies directly east of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area
Teda
The Teda are a Toubou people who live mostly in northern Chad, but is present also in Libya, Niger and Nigeria. They speak Tedaga, a Nilo-Saharan language, and are very close ethnically and culturally with the Daza. They likely number more than 50,000, and are Muslims....
. The Port of Tianjin is at the core of the ambitious development program of the Binhai New Area, and due to this developmental storm, change occurs at a very accelerated pace. The name "Tianjin Xingang", which strictly speaking refers only to the main seaport area, is sometimes used to refer to the whole port.
Location
The Port of Tianjin is located in the coast of Tianjin Municipality, in the former county of Tanggu, on the coast between the estuaries of the Haihe to the south and the New Yongding RiverYongding River
The Yongding River is a river in northern China. It is one of the main tributaries in the Hai River system and is best known as the largest river to flow through Beijing Municipality.-Geography:...
to the north. To the west, the Port borders the city of Tanggu (now the Urban Core of the Binhai New Area) and the TEDA
Teda
The Teda are a Toubou people who live mostly in northern Chad, but is present also in Libya, Niger and Nigeria. They speak Tedaga, a Nilo-Saharan language, and are very close ethnically and culturally with the Daza. They likely number more than 50,000, and are Muslims....
. To the east, the port opens up to the Bohai Bay
Bohai Bay
Bohai Bay is one of the three bays forming the Bohai Gulf, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea, in northeast China. It borders Hebei province and Tianjin Municipality...
.
The Bohai Bay is one of the three bays that compose the Bohai Sea
Bohai Sea
Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China. It is approximately 78,000 km2 Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of...
. The Bohai Sea is a fairly shallow (average depth 18m), semi-enclosed water body, with relatively poor water exchange into the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
(it can take 40 to 200 years for complete water turnaround), The enormous sediment runoff from the Yellow River and Haihe makes it a very silty water body.
The coastal area
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
of Tianjin municipality was dominated by mudflats, salt marshes (and saltern
Saltern
Saltern is a word with a number of differing meanings. In English archaeology, a saltern is an area used for salt making, especially in the East Anglian fenlands....
s), and coastal shallows. This littoral zone is wide and slopes gently: the 0m isobath (the intertidal flats) extends to 3-8km from shore at a slope of 0.71-1.28%, the -5m isobath extends 14-18km, and the -10m isobath reaches 22-36km. These features make deep water navigation dependent on extensive dredging, but it also means that land reclamation is a cost-effective option for construction. Tianjin Port is thus by necessity largely man-made through dredging and reclamation.
Soil geology: As it is largely built on man-made surfaces, Tianjin Port’s engineering geology is fairly regular:
- A layer of artificial fill from +4.6m to +2.0m of elevation. This layer was originally placed by jetting dredged material, the dredged silty clay becoming finer by din of being jetted. More recent construction uses the vacuum preloadingVacuum consolidationVacuum consolidation is a soft soil improvement method that has been successfully used by geotechnical engineers and specialist sof ground improvement companies in countries such as Australia, China, Korea, Thailand and France for soil improvement or land reclamation...
method, which results in better compacted surfaces. - A layer of marine deposits of silt and silty clay interspersed with sand, of recent date (~800yrs BP). It is around 15m thick, highly waterlogged, and considered a risk to liquefy during an earthquake.
- A layer of alluvial deposit of the PleistocenePleistoceneThe Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
estuary delta. This is mostly cohesive soil (silty clay) and silty sand, horizontally stratified. At –21m there is a dense layer of fine sand which provides good support for piles and foundations. Bedrock is not reached at engineering depths (shallowest seams are 350-450m)
Seismological Conditions: The area of Tianjin is very seismically active. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake affected the harbor and caused serious damage to its installations. The Port’s current design specifications are to resist earthquakes of intensity 7, to a basic design earthquake acceleration of 0.15g.
Meteorological and Hydrological Conditions
Climate: Tianjin Port's local area belongs to the continental monsoon climate area, specifically a temperate semi-humid continentalHumid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
climate type (Köppen
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dwa), with a short rainy season in the summer, large seasonal differences in temperature, and large variation in weather year to year. Annual average temperature is 12.3℃. The hottest months are July and August (maximum temperature recorded was 39.9℃ on July 24, 1955), and the coldest is January (minimum temperature recorded was -18.3℃ on January 17, 1953). The average relative humidity is 65%, with a maximum of 100% recorded in the summers, and a minimum of 3% recorded in winters.
Precipitation and Storms Average annual precipitation is 602.9 mm, with rainfall concentrated on the rainy months of July and August. Maximum recorded annual rainfall was in 1964 (1083.5 mm), and minimum recorded annual rainfall was in 1968 (278.4 mm). The maximum single day precipitation recorded occurred on July 30, 1975 (191.5 mm). The average number of thunderstorms is 27.5 per year, mostly breaking out in June and July. Due to its shallowness and narrowness, the Tianjin coast is prone to storm surges: since 1860 there has been 30 storm surges, around once every 4 years, most recently in 2003, 2009 and 2011. Of the nine serious surges in the last hundred years, five were caused by typhoons (the Bohai Bay is at the northernmost range of the Pacific typhoon corridor), and four by winter cyclones
Extratropical storm surge
Less commonly publicized than the effects from tropical cyclones, Extratropical Storm Surge can be just as destructive, and much more frequent in certain coastal communities. For an overview of storm surge, please see the parent article.-Mechanics:...
.
Winds: Average annual wind velocity is 4.43 m/s; Easterly winds have the fastest average velocity, averaging 6.51 m/s. Strongest (steady) wind recorded was a WNW blowing at 33 m/s, on January 3, 1986. Winds over category 7
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
are observed 1-7% of the year. Predominant winds are:
- Spring: SW
- Summer: SE
- Autumn: SW
- Winter: NW
Fog: Fog or haze is present in around one third of the year, particularly during winter. Of these hazy days, there is an average of 16.5 fog days per year with visibility of less than one kilometer (a visibility level that triggers severe restriction of traffic in the port), The foggiest year on record was 1972, with 26 days; foggiest month was January 1973 with 12 days. Like other regions in the North China Plain
North China Plain
The North China Plain is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains edge of the Shanxi plateau. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain...
, Tianjin Port is prone to pollution haze. This haze can be a navigational problem when combined with foggy conditions.
Tides: Tanggu has a mixed semidiurnal tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
with primary lunar components The lunitidal interval
Lunitidal interval
The lunitidal interval, measures the time lag from the moon passing overhead, to the next high or low tide. It is also called the high water interval /Tides are known to be mainly caused by the moon's gravity...
is 45 min, the average duration of rise is 5h40m, and the average duration of fall is 6h53m. The daily inequality
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
between low waters is particularly marked.
Average tide heights
Tide table
A tide table, sometimes called a tide chart, is used for tidal prediction and shows the daily times and height of high water and low water for a particular location...
at the Tanggu Oceanic Station (塘沽海洋站) are:The Chart Datum
Chart datum
A chart datum is the level of water that charted depths displayed on a nautical chart are measured from. A chart datum is generally a tidal datum; that is, a datum derived from some phase of the tide...
used for these tide values is the 1985 National Datum Mark (国家高程基准), which is an adjustment of the 1956 Yellow Sea Datum. The Admiralty chart datum uses the local LAT, and the NGA presents approximate data, so the numbers disagree slightly. The old “Dagu Zero” (大沽零点), the first of the six Chinese chart datums, was developed at the Dagu tide station and it is sometimes still found in some charts (particularly of the Haihe). Dagu Zero is 1.163m higher than the 1985 Datum.
- Mean Sea Level: 2.56m
- Mean High Water (MHW): 3.74m
- Mean Higher High Water (MHHW – Admiralty Datum) 3.7m
- Mean Lower High Water (MLHW – Admiralty Datum) 3.6m
- Mean Low Water (MLW): 1.34m
- Mean Higher Low Water (MHLW – Admiralty Datum): 1.7m
- Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW – Admiralty Datum): 0.7m
- Mean Tidal Range: 2.47m
- Mean Tidal Range Springs: 3.5m (NGA approximation)
- Mean Tidal Range Neaps: 2 m (NGA approximation)
- Maximum High Tide Recorded: 5.83 m（September 1992）
- Lowest Tidemark Recorded: -1.08 m (December 18 1957)
- Maximum Tidal Range Recorded: 4.37m (October 26 1980)
| Constituent | Species | Amplitude (H) | Phase (φ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M2 | Lunar Semidiurnal | 117 cm | 90°/hr |
| S2 | Solar Semidiurnal | 34 cm | 165°/hr |
| K1 | Lunar Diurnal | 36 cm | 154°/hr |
| O1 | Lunar Diurnal | 27 cm | 99°/hr |
| (HO1 + HK1) / HM2 = 0.53. | |||
The design water levels for port facilities are:
- Design high water level: 4.30m
- Design low water level: 0.50m
- Extreme high water level: 5.88m
- Extreme low water: -1.29m
Tidal currents: Flood tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
at the Dagukou Anchorage flows northwest (average bearing 292), average speed of 0.8 knots, and maximum 1.9knots. Ebbing tide flows to the southeast (130 average bearing average), average speed of 0.7knots, and maximum 1 knot. Tide currents within breakwaters are parallel to the channel and have a maximum speed of 0.64 knots.
Waves: The western Bohai Bay is a relatively calm body of water. The frequency of waves below 1.0m height is 87.6%, of waves of height above 1.0 m is 12.4%, waves above 2.0m 1.9% and waves above 3.0m is 0.4%. The proportion of pure wind waves is 74.2%, of pure swell
Swell (ocean)
A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series surface gravity waves that is not generated by the local wind. Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies with the size of the water body, e.g. rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean, and from event to event, with...
waves is 0.9%, and of mixed swell/wind is 24.9%. Predominant wave directions are NNE-E (9.68% frequency) and ENE-E 9.53% S 9.27%, SSE 8.91% and SE 8.30%. Waves are strongest in spring and weakest in fall. Summers are very calm, unless typhoons wander off far enough north. Strongest average waves are ENE and NNW waves.
Icing: Ice cover in the Bohai Bay is highest in February. Shore icing extends an average of 500 m, with an average thickness of 10-25 cm, maximum of 40 cm. Drift ice extends 15-20 nm, roughly to the 10-15 m isobath. Average drift ice thickness is around 5 cm, thickness is 20–25 cm. Ice flow rates are SE-NW, at an average speed of 30cm/s, maximum of 100cm/s.
Icing is a regular problem for the Haihe riverine port area, and requires continuous clearing. Icing is not normally a navigational hazard at the seaport, except on extremely severe winters like the 2009-2010 winter (the severest in over 30 years). Seasonal buoyage change is necessary.
Sedimentation: Silting was long considered an insurmountable obstacle to deep-water navigation at Tanggu. However, the extensive hydraulic work of the last decades, in particular the damming of the Haihe, has reduced silting to manageable levels, reducing average estuary water sediment from 0.75 kg/m3 to 0.1 kg/m3
Pollution: Severe eutrophication
Eutrophication
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...
caused by polluted runoff has made red tides in the Bohai Bay common. Combined with overfishing, this has put pressure on once-abundant fish stocks. Biological pollution
Biological pollution
Biological pollution, or biopollution, is a term that defines adverse effects of invasive alien species on quality of aquatic and terrestrial environment...
is also a problem, with illegal ballast water discharges creating a strong danger of invasive exotic species.
The Haihe River Ports
The estuary and lower course of the Haihe is both the westernmost seashore of the North China Plain and the confluence of several navigable streams. This makes it ideally located for the establishment of both sea and river ports. However, the marshy nature of the land meant habitation was difficult, and the capricious and silty river made navigation tricky. First records of port activity date from the Han DynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, but it was only during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
that the need for a forward base for operations in the northeast led to the establishment of the Sanhui Harbor (三会港口) in the region of modern Junliangcheng
Junliangcheng
JunliangchengChinese: t , s , p Jūnliángchéng, w Chun-liang-Cheng, lit. "Army Depot". is a town in the Dongli District of Tianjin in China....
(军粮成 l="army rations town"), a fact still preserved in the town's name.
The process of creating a major port in the Haihe river was at first based on the development of inland waterways rather than sea routes. The area of Tianjin became a major trade hub starting in the Sui Dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....
, when canal works that would later became part of the Grand Canal linked the Yellow River basin with the Haihe basin around the area of modern Tianjin. Since Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
times, the main port of the region was at Zhigu (later known as Tianjin).
In 1043, the Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
had one of its frequent cataclysmic course changes, and took over the course of the Haihe until 1194. In that 150 years span, the enormous runoff of silt from the "Flowing Mud" caused a major change in the coastline. The shoreline, which at the time was roughly at modern day Junliangcheng
Junliangcheng
JunliangchengChinese: t , s , p Jūnliángchéng, w Chun-liang-Cheng, lit. "Army Depot". is a town in the Dongli District of Tianjin in China....
, moved forward around 23 km to the present day line of Tanggu, Beitang and Gaoshaling. The land on which the modern Tanggu lies is therefore a mere 800 years old.
With the move of the capital to Yanjing (later Beijing) in 1153 by the Jin Dynasty, the wharves in the lower Haihe became a critical hub in the extensive grain trade needed for the survival of a large capital city. The Mongol conquest made this trade even more necessary when in 1264, the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
established its capital at Dadu
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq or Dadu refers to a city which is now Beijing, the current capital of the People's Republic of China...
，also on the site of modern Beijing.
Feeding the enormous needs of Dadu was the spur for the creation of regular sea-going routes to complement the inland waterways, which were reaching their limit capacity. Sea routes connecting Liujiagang in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
province and Zhigu Yangcun wharf were established in 1276 (a route taking 120 days to complete), and in 1282 (a route taking 30 days to complete). A breakthrough occurred in 1293, when a third sea route was opened that took a more direct open-sea path from Liujiagang to Yangcun, going eastwards from the Yangtze mouth into the “Black Water Ocean” (the deepest section of the Yellow Sea), turning at the tip of the Shandong peninsula around Chengshan, entering the Bohai Sea around Shamendao，and then going directly from Laizhou
Laizhou
Laizhou is a county-level city in Yantai Prefecture, Shandong Province, China.As of 2008, Laizhou had a total population of 902,000, out of which 188,000 are urban residents.-External links:* in English...
into the Haihe mouth. This route required more complex navigation，but it took less than ten days to sail, and it is in essence the route still used today for shipping between Shanghai and Tianjin. To assist this burgeoning sea trade, in 1318 the first recorded aid to navigation in the region was established in the Longwangmiao temple at the Haihe mouth. During daytime, white cloth flags were raised on high poles. At night, lamps were lit and raised to guide approaching boats.
The Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and later the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
were sporadically hostile to sea trade, which resulted in the policy of "Sea Ban" applying on and off for centuries, varying between reinforcing defense against pirates, and depopulating the coastline. The focus then oscillated from focusing on river trade and reopening sea routes. The port of Zhigu, was renamed "Tianjin" ("Ford of the Emperor") by the Yongle Emperor
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...
to commemorate a victorious forced river crossing. Yongle's move of the imperial capital back to Beijing in 1405 also resulted on the renewed importance of the grain trade passing through the port of Tianjin.
In xxxx the Qianlong Emperor lifted the prohibition against ocean fishing that had held for a century, re-population of the coast resulted in the founding of many fishing villages, including modern Dagu, Beitang and Tanggu, the modest beginnings of the current Xingang area.
Development of the Haihe Estuary Port
With the increasing presence of the Western powers in East Asia, the importance of maritime access to Beijing grew. In 1816, the Taku FortsTaku Forts
The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...
were rebuilt to protect the access to the Haihe estuary at Tanggu. The Forts became a critical battleground during the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
. In the aftermath of the war, the 1860 Treaty of Tianjin opened up Tianjin to foreign trade and established the first Foreign Concessions in Tianjin
Concessions in Tianjin
The Concessions in Tianjin were concession territories ceded by the Chinese imperial Qing Dynasty to the great powers in Tianjin, also known as Tientsin or Tien-Tsin.-General context:...
. While the main trade port was located in the Concessions at Zichulin (紫竹林), right next to Tianjin city, the British opened the first modern wharf at Tanggu (the "Little Wharf" in Lanjingdao, nowadays the Huanqiu Shipyard). Tanggu remained a critical strategic point, and Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang or Li Hung-chang , Marquis Suyi of the First Class , GCVO, was a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire...
established the Taku Dockyard and fostered the extension of the Kaiping Tramway
Kaiping Tramway and Imperial Railways of North China
Often described as China’s first railway, the first standard gauge railway to be built and survive in China was the Kaiping colliery tramway located at Tongshan in Hebei province. This was not, however, truly the first railway in China...
to Dagu -later the Jingtang (Beijing-Tanggu) railway.
The Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
once more saw a decisive battle fought for the Taku Forts
Taku Forts
The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...
. After the capture of Beijing by the Eight Nation Alliance, the Qing Court was forced to sign the Boxer Protocol
Boxer Protocol
The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901 between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands after China's defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the...
, which further increased the size of the Concessions (now including nine countries), and granted the foreign occupation of Tanggu. This lead to significant development of the Tanggu port on the part of all the various foreign powers. Wharves by British, German, Japanese and American companies were built (mostly on the northern shore of the Haihe), and by 1940, Tanggu had 56 berths amounting to 6090m of quayside
The Establishment of Tanggu Xingang
The history of the Tanggu Xingang seaport (later the Tianjin Xingang port) started during the Japanese occupation of China. In 1938, the Japanese occupation forces decided that the existing river ports in Tianjin and Tanggu were insufficient to meet the needs for transportation to and from their new possessions in North China. The Haihe was troublesome both due to silting and winter icing, so the decision was made to expand capacity by building a seaport on the outside of the Haihe estuary. After an exploratory and planning period, construction work started in October 25, 1940. In October 1941, the Tanggu New Port Harbor Bureau was set up.The original Japanese plan called for laying down a 30 km breakwater; dredging a 13.4 km, 200 m wide shipping channel; building a shiplock at the entrance of the Haihe; and establishing three wharves with 12 berths, for a projected throughput of 27 Mt. The plan was expected to be completed by 1947. Work slowed down as the war started to go wrong for Japan, and resources (in particular coal) became more and more scarce. By the time of Japan’s surrender in 1945
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
, the project was less than half-way completed: the shipping channel had been two-thirds dredged, breakwaters extended 11 km, only one terminal with 700m of quayside had been completed, while a second terminal and the barge terminal were almost completed. The Shiplock was 85% complete. 11 km of railways had been laid down, and the ship dock (now the Xingang Shipyard) had been established.
After Japan’s surrender, American forces took control of Tanggu and Tianjin before transferring control back to the Nationalist government
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
. The Kuomintang authorities restarted the incomplete works, and reopened the port. But as the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
raged, resources dried up and disorder in the running of the port grew.
Through lack of resources, combat damage and demolitions by the retreating Nationalist forces, the War left the Tanggu New Port damaged and silted into unusability by the time it was captured by the Communists on September 17, 1949. Restoring it online was a slow process. On Sep. 15, 1950, the Tianjin Port Bureau of the Department of Transportation was officially established to provide the first unified management of the ports in the Tianjin region. On August 24 195l, the ports at Tanggu were reorganized again into the "Tanggu New Port" (塘沽新港), and work started on re-dredging the navigation channel and rehabilitating four sea piers. On October 17, 1952, the Port reopened for traffic. At the time, the main channel was dredged to 6m depth, could handle ships of up to 7,000 DWT and had an annual throughput of only 800,000 tons -less than 1/500 of present capacity.
In the next decades, port expansion was slow. By 1956, throughput had reached 10 million tons, and it remained roughly at that level for next two decades. Even then, however, Tianjin Xingang remained a pioneer of port development in the People's Republic of China. In September 1973, Tianjin Port successfully opened up the first international container ship route in China. In 1980, Tianjin Port established the first dedicated container terminal in China.
Reform and Opening
The export boom that followed the post-1979 Reform and OpeningChinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform refers to the program of economic reforms called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the People's Republic of China that were started in December 1978 by reformists within the Communist Party of China led by Deng Xiaoping.China had one of the world's largest...
period put enormous pressure on the rickety infrastructure of the Chinese ports. Congestion became serious enough to force reform by the central government. As part of this reform, in June 1, 1984, the Port of Tianjin was transferred from direct control of the Ministry of Communications to a "dual" system of shared central and local control.
This devolution entailed transferring line operations, human resources and financial responsibility to the municipal government of Tianjin, while the ministry of transport retain strategic planning and coordination duties.
On July 19, 1984, the Tianjin Port Bureau of the Department of Transportation was renamed the Tianjin Port Authority (天津港务局, TPA) Critically, this new port authority was given a degree of relative financial autonomy (a policy called "以收抵支、以港养港”, literally), in essence allowing the port to finance expansion from retained earnings.
Despite this partial liberalization, growth was very slow at the beginning. The port was bedeviled by both land and capital shortages, it became a relatively early recipient of World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
infrastructure development loans, which financed the modernization and expansion of several wharves. With progressive commercial success and access to capital, the port started to expand fast in both size and capacity.
Capacity and throughput increased in leaps and bounds. In 1988 throughput passed the 20 million ton milestone. In the ten years from 1993, annual throughput growth averaged 10 million tons every year, and in December 2001, the Port was the first port in North China to reach the 100 million tons throughput landmark, in 2004 it reached 200 million tons, in 2007 300 million tons and in 2010 400 million tons. The container handling capacity of the port increased from 0.4 million TEU in 1992, to 2.4 million TEU in 2002, 7.1 million TEU in 2007, and more than 10 million TEU in 2010.
The structure of the Port also changed. In 1992, Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Company was made into a joint stock company under the full ownership of the Tianjin Port Bureau. In 1996, it would be converted into the Tianjin Port Holdings Company (TPC) and listed in the Shanghai stock market. In 1997, Tianjin Development Holdings, which owned the container handling assets of the Port was listed in Hong Kong, assets which were spun out as the Tianjin Port Development Company (TPD) and listed in the Hong Kong exchange in 2006.
In 2001, as part of the widespread reform of all of China’s SOEs, the State Council passed guidelines requiring the separation of state administration and operation in all ports, by transforming the various Port Authorities into corporations. In 2003, Port Law was passed, which regulated their operation as fully commercial enterprises and permitted for the first time foreign ownership of port operators.
.
The TPA delayed corporatization
Corporatization
Corporatization refers to the transformation of state assets or agencies into state-owned corporations in order to introduce corporate management techniques to their administration...
in order to steer the passing of the 11th five year development plan for the port. This transition was completed on June 3, 2004, when Tianjin Port became the last major port in China to transform its Port Authority into a corporation: the Tianjin Port (Group) Company (天津港（集团）有限公司, or TPG by its English acronym).
The financial tsunami
Late-2000s financial crisis
The late-2000s financial crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...
of 2008 hit Chinese ports particularly hard, as they depended heavily on foreign trade flows. The Tianjin Port did better than average due to its diversification: while container business plummeted, bulk trade (in particular iron ore) remained strong. Nevertheless, the crisis hit profits hard, and it convinced the Tianjin government to reorganize and streamline the structure of the Port, which they did in 2009 by having TPD (the smaller operator, but one with access to foreign capital markets) take over TPC. Simultaneously, ownership of TPD was transferred from Tianjin Development Holdings (a subsidiary of the Tianjin Ministry of Commerce) to TPG. By the time the merger was concluded, on February 4, 2010, all operations in the Tianjin Port had been consolidated under TPG.
Port Layout and Facilities
The port is divided into five main port areas: Beijiang, Nanjiang, Haihe, Dongjiang, Beitang. Directly across the estuary of the Haihe River, just south of the Nanjiang Port Area, the still under construction Tianjin Lingang Economic Area (临港经济区), formerly the Lingang Industrial Area, also has substantial port facilities. This area is being integrated in stages, and will become the Dagukou Port Area once completed.Beijiang Port Area
The Beijiang Port Area includes the original areas of the Tanggu New Port, plus new facilities built on reclaimed land. It covers approximately 36.8 km2, has 18.9 km of coastline, and contains mostly container and general cargo terminals. It is also the main service and administration area of the port, including the Container Logistics Center, the Tianjin Port Trade and Shipping Service Area, and the 7 km² Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone.Nanjiang Port Area
The Nanjiang Port Area lies on an artificial island 16 km long (east to west) for 1.3–2 km wide (north to south), with an area of approximately 26 km2. Shoreline is 14.2 km long on the north side(opening to the Main Channel), and 12 km on the south side (opening to the Dagusha Channel). This port area contains the bulk cargo terminals, in particular the various oil and coal terminals, as well as ore, liquid bulk, dry bulk, etc.Dongjiang Port Area
Dongjiang Port Area lies on an artificial peninsula 10 km long and 3 km wide to the northeast of the main basin, and has an approximate area of 33 km2. This is the newest part of the Port, and is still in development. It includes a new container terminal, a regional logistics center, and has a 10sq km bonded port area.The Dongjiang Port Area is being developed into a comprehensive complex with three parallel zones: the terminal area; a logistic processing zone associated with the bonded port area; and a comprehensive service zone which will include office space, residential space, and leisure facilities.
The leisure area will be centered on the cruiser terminal and yachting piers, and around an artificial beach (the Dongjiang Bay Scenic Area)
Haihe Port Area
The Haihe Port Area operates all riverine docks from the Xingang Shipping Lock up to the Haihe Second Tidal Barrier, a distance of 39.5 km. Once the core of the Tanggu port, the lower Haihe river area has seen diminishing number of wharves as riverfront real estate is reassigned for development. In 2003, the Haihe Port Area had 7,100m of quayside, 83 berths, 56 production berths dealing with all sorts of cargo including containers. The start of the work on the new Tanggu CBD meant the demolition of most facilities in the Xiangguowan, Yujiapu and Lanjingdao peninsulas, including the large Third Stevedoring Company terminal in Gongzhuangzi, which closed in 2009.Nevertheless, industrial expansion further up the river will likely lead to some recovery in the number of available berths. There are plans for expansion, however, with the development of new industrial areas further upriver. Current plans call for six different production areas, with an area of 9.7 km2, a quayside length of 21 km, and a total of 70 berths of 5,000-3,000DWT capacity, for a total throughput of 2,42 million tons.
Beitang Port Area
The Beitang Port Area at present only contains a very small (2.4ha) barge wharf on the estuary of the New Yongding River with minimal capabilities. However, this port area is expected to be expanded to serve the development of the Binhai Tourism Area. There are two wharves planned, 230m and 150m in length, to serve general cargo and passenger ships. The Beitang Fishing Harbor is directly north in the mouth of the river.Dagukou Port Area
The Tianjin Lingang Harbor Economic Zone , directly across the mouth of the Haihe River, south of the Nanjiang Port Area has fast-growing port capabilities, and it will become the sixth port area when completed (the Dagukou Port Area, , with an expected capacity of 100 Mt per year. At present. The Lingang Area hosts the Shipbuilding cluster, including the large Shipbuilding base currently going online in stages.Shipping Channel and Fairway
The Tianjin Xingang Fairway is divided into the Main Shipping Channel, the Chuanzhadong Channel, and the Northern Branch Channel. The Dagusha Channel and the Haihe river channel are separate fairways with slightly different regulations.- The Main shipping channel (新港主航道) is 39.5 km long. The channel extends from the gate line of the VTS control area (20 nautical miles (37 km) from the VTS control tower), up to the start of the Chuanzhadong Channel. Since 2008, the Main Channel incorporates the old "Dengtabei Channel" that still appears in older charts as extending from the Dagu Lighthouse to safe water Since November 2010, the Main Channel has been dredged to a depth of -19.5m, and a bottom width of 420m, making it capable of handling two-way traffic of 250,000DWT vessels, and 300,000 DWT ships at high tide. There two service channels, 100m wide and 9m deep, at each side of the main channel, which allow ships under 10,000DWT (i.e. service craft, barges and coastal ships) to transit without interference from the big ships. The breakwater mouth is now 1100m wide.
- The Chuanzhadong channel(船闸东航道), called "Chuanzha channel" in Admiralty charts, starts roughly at the level of the Second Pier up to the Xingang Shipping Lock, a total of around 4.5 km. Its depth varies between 10m to 5m as it approaches the shiplock.
- The Northern Harbor Branch Channel (北港支航道)extends from its bifurcation from the main channel up to the northern end of the basin, approximately 8.5 km. It has been dredged all the way to the end of the basin (where the Huicheng terminal lies) to a depth of 15m. Its junction with the Main Channel was widened to 765m in 2007 to facilitate traffic merging.
The Dagusha Channel (大沽沙航道)is wholly separate from the Main Channel. It is 27.5 km long from safe water to end of fairway. It was upgraded in December 2010 to a depth of 12.5m, increasing one-way traffic capacity from 50,000 DWT vessels to 100,000 DWT vessels. Current dredging is expanding the Channel to 200m bottom width and 14.8m depth, which will allow two-way all-tide traffic of 100,000DWT vessels. The long-term plan is to dredge the Channel up to a 200,000DWT capability.
The Haihe River Channel varies in depth between 4m to 8m with a minimum bottom width of 60m, and it can handle vessels of up to 5,000 DWT in the section between the Xingang Shiplock and the Haimen Bridge, and up to 3,000 DWT from the Haimen Bridge to the Second Tidal Barrier.
Three other channels (the Central Fishing Port Channel, the Gaoshaling Channel and the Nangang Channel) will be expanded and integrated into the Port fairway as these port zones become integrated into the greater Tianjin Port in the near future. The Nangang Channel was activated on July 2011 on a trial basis. At present it extends DDD and is dredged to a 5,000 DWT capacity, it is intended to reach 100,000 DWT capacity by as early as 2015.
Harbor basins are breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
-protected, and include the Channels and the approaches to the wharves. The Main Harbor Basin extends 16.5 km from the Xingang Shipping Lock to breakwater mouth, and there are four secondary basins within the main basin, formed by the four jutting piers of the Beijiang port area. The North Harbor Basin is 8.5 km long by 1,100-900m wide, and has two secondary basins (in construction). The Dagukou Harbor Basin is 14 km long, and tapers down from 1,500 to 900m wide as it goes up the old Haihe mouth. It also has two secondary basins (in construction).
Anchorages
Tianjin Port has seven main anchorage areas. All anchorages are designated for all functions —berth waiting, quarantine, inspection and pilotage—, and provide little shelter from weather or rough seas. Bottom hold is poor to very poor, and some care must be taken in selecting anchorage spots, as anchor dragging is common，particularly in winter.The Dagukou North, South and Chemical Bulk anchorages are situated on both sides of the main shipping channel, to the east of the Dagu Lighthouse. These anchorages cater for the majority of the traffic, and can get very crowded. Collisions have occurred with some frequency in the past. The two deep water anchorage sites are further out into the deeper parts of the Bohai Bay. One anchorage for very large Capesize
Capesize
Capesize ships are cargo ships originally too large to transit the Suez Canal . To travel between oceans, such vessels used to have to pass either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. In effect Capesize reads as "unlimited"...
vessels of more than 150,000DWT is shared with Tangshan Caofeidian
Caofeidian
Caofeidian is an island Land reclamation converted economic development zone in Bohai Bay under the jurisdiction of Tangshan city, Hebei Province, China.-Location:...
The last two anchorages (No5 and 6) serve the Dagusha channel. Both are located on the south side of the shipping channel. No6 covers 40 km2, has depth of 10-13m and anchors small and medium displacement vessels. No5 anchorage covers 20 km2 and has a depth of 16-18m, anchoring larger vessels. No6 anchorage is operational but still little used, No5 was recently activated (2011) but it is still considered "temporary".
| Name | Location | Depth | Bottom | DWT Anchorable | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dagukou Anchorage | * 38°59"24'N/117°58"18'E * 38°58"01'N/118°07"04'E * 38°56"57'N/117°57"39'E * 38°56"33'N/118°06"26'E |
8-13.0m | Mud | 50,000 DWT | All vessels with drafts of less than 10.5m, except tankers and chemical bulk carriers. |
| South Dagukou Anchorage | * 38°55"42'N 118°01"14'E * 38°53"26'N/118°00"39'E * 38 °54"54'N/118°06"15'E * 38°52"38'N/118°05"40'E |
12.0-16.0m | Mud | 50,000 DWT | Dangerous Cargo (Oil, Chemical tankers and bulk carriers) of more than 8.0m draft, and other cargo ships of over 10.0m draft but less than 13.0m. |
| Chemical Bulk Anchorage | * 38°55"42'N 118°01"14' E *38°56"18'N 117°57"29'E * 38°53"26'N 118°00"39'E * 38°54"02'N 117°56"54' E |
10.0m | Mud | 50,000 DWT | Tankers and bulk chemical carriers of less than 8.00m draft. |
| 100,000DWT Anchorage | *38°51"49.446'N/118°10"18.033'E *38°49"43.474'N/118°13"53.163'E * 38°48"07.35'N/118°12"21.13'E *38°50"13.27'N/118°08"46.03'E |
18.0m | Mud | 100,000 DWT | Vessels of draft over 13.0m |
| Caofeidian Large Vessel Anchorage | *38°51′.95N 118°24′.74E 38°50′.95N 118°26′.86E 38°52′.72N 118°28′.14E 38°53′.75N 118°53′.82E |
23-28m | Mud | 300,000 DWT | For very large tankers and bulk carriers. Shared with Tianjin Xingang. |
| Tianjin Lingang No5 Anchorage | *38°42'.13N/118°13'.06E *38°39'.72N/118°17'.13E *38°38'.12N/118°15'.59E *38°40'.53N/118°11.53'E |
16-18m | Mud | 100,000DWT | Temporary Anchorage Area |
| Tianjin Lingang No6 Anchorage | 38°49.56'N/118°00.48' 38°48.35'N/118°02.50'E 38°47.50'N/118°01.75'E 38°48.75'N/117°59.72'E |
12m | Mud | 50,000DWT |
Shiplocks and Tidal Barriers
The Haihe river channel is separated from the sea channels by three structures: First, the Xingang Shiplock in the northern side of the estuary is the main shipping route into the Haihe area. It was started by the Japanese occupation forcesSecond Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in 1942, completed in 1943 and made operational by the Nationalist government after the war，in 1946. It has a width of 20.5m and a length of 180m. It allows passage to vessels up to 18.5m wide, limited to 17.5m at night and for ships carrying liquid bulk or otherwise dangerous cargoes.
Second, the Haihe Tidal Barrier , built in 1958, serves as a dam, flood control sluice and tide surge protection for the Haihe River. It is an open sluice design, with 8 gates and an average flow of 1200m3/s flow, maximum flow of 1689m3/s recorded in August 28, 1963. Last refurbished in 1999.
Third, the Tanggu Fishing Boat Lock , at the western end of the channel between Donggu and Lanjingdao Island. Built in 1959, it is 150m long, 14m wide, 8m deep, with a draft of 2m. It can handle ships of up to 200 gross tons of displacement. In 2011, the Fishing Boat Lock gates will be rebuilt to allow for larger road traffic between Donggu and Lanjingdao. Combined with the current wind-down of fishing activity in the Port, this construction work puts the operational future of the Lock in question.
The final hydraulic structure of the Tianjin Port is the Haihe Second Barrier at Dongnigucun , in the Jinnan district. The Second Barrier is also an open-type sluice barrier, with 8 gates allowing an average flow of 1200m3/s. The Barrier, opened in July 1984, closes ship traffic upriver into Tianjin city proper, and its erection resulted in the abandonment of 29.3 km of navigable channel.
Tianjin Port Group
Tianjin Port Group (TPG) is the holding company and Ultimate Controlling Party for most of the Tianjin Port operating units. TPG is the main Port OperatorPort operator
A port operator is port authority or company that contracts with the port authority to move cargo through a port at a contracted minimum level of productivity...
and Port Landowner, and retains some of the old Port Authority's supervisory functions. TPG, directly or indirectly through its affiliates and subordinate units, runs almost all aspects of port operation. At present, it has 69 affiliated or subordinate units with 40,000 employees.
TPG also serves as Port Landlord, providing basic municipal services (including power, water and sewerage) and very wide services extending from construction materials to printing services. In this role, TPG maintains quasi-municipal authority over port areas.
State Administration and Supervision
The Port of Tianjin falls under the supervisory and administrative purview of the Tianjin Municipality People’s Government. The 2004 incorporation of the Tianjin Port Authority into TPG formally divested the group of administrative responsibilities, and the main port control authority passed to the Tianjin Transportation and Port Authority (天津市交通运输和港口管理局), formerly the Tianjin Transport Commission. The TTPA implements state policy on port work; drafts local policies, by-laws and regulations; and licenses, audits, and issues certification to businesses operating in the port, in particular to ship terminals. The TTPA supervises and manages compliance to all laws and regulations regarding environmental protection, service compliance, pilotage, maintenance of port infrastructure and handling of dangerous goods and disinfection in all terminals and storage areas.The Tianjin Municipality People’s Government Port Services Office (天津市人民政府口岸服务办公室) was set up in May 2009 as a coordinating body in charge of streamlining port operations, in particular customs and inspection clearance procedures. The Port Services Office main duty is the coordination of port services, fostering collaboration between government offices and inspection units, and resolving conflicts and disputes among them (a duty which includes the power to issue emergency rulings to solve jurisdictional problems). The office is also the Port’s "foreign office", charged with fostering interchange and cooperation with other provinces (in particular the development of dry ports), and with foreign entities. Finally, the office is responsible for drafting the Port Development Plan and approving all development and expansion plans, developing streamline procedures and comprehensive joint clearance, the development of the Tianjin e-Port, etc.
Tianjin Maritime Safety Bureau
Harbormaster powers for the Port of Tianjin are mostly vested on the Tianjin Maritime Safety Bureau (天津海事局), which is the local agency of the China Maritime Safety Administration. At present, the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration has 17 functional departments and 24 subordinate units, for a total of more than 2,000 employees. It has seven local field offices in Xingang (covering the Beijiang port area), Nanjiang, Tanggu (covering the Haihe port area), Beigang (covering the Beigangchi basin，Beitang and Hanggu), Dongjiang and Lingang port areas, plus an under-construction base at the Nangang area.Tianjin MSA carries out a wide array of duties regarding the safe management of port activities, including vessel traffic management and berth operations, navigational safety (including SAR, AtoN, navigational warnings, and management of the GMDSS), ship and crewing inspection (including Flag State Control and Port State Control obligations), local application of the China Ship Reporting System (CHISREP), management of waterways and underwater works, shore installation safety, dangerous goods handling, law enforcement patrolling, marine accident investigation, and hydrographic survey and charting.
Supervision, Inspection and Clearance
Inbound ships, cargo and personnel require clearance by four main government bodies: China CustomsGeneral Administration of Customs
The General Administration of Customs is an administrative agency within the government of the People's Republic of China...
for customs declaration, Border Inspection for migration formalities, China Inspection and Quarantine
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine is a ministerial-level department under the State Council of the People's Republic of China that is in charge of national quality, metrology, entry-exit commodity inspection, entry-exit health quarantine, entry-exit...
for quarantine and fumigation, and the MSA for ship and crew safety regulations. Obtaining clearance from these so-called “One Customs Three Inspections” (一关三检) used to be quite a protracted process, and one of the continued foci of Port reform is to speed up the clearance procedures and reduce their burden.
Customs Clearance: The custom agencies responsible for the Port are: the Tianjin Xingang Customs (天津新港海关), headquartered at the Container Logistics Center; the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Customs (天津港保税区海关), headquartered at the FTZ, and the Dongjiang Bonded Port Customs (东疆保税港区海关), headquarted at the Dongjiang Joint Inspection Center. All are subordinate units of Tianjin Customs
General Administration of Customs
The General Administration of Customs is an administrative agency within the government of the People's Republic of China...
(天津海关), which is responsible for the declaration, inspection, and duties collection for all international cargo, trade goods, luggage and postal items passing through the Port. This involves processing more than xM clearance forms a year, and efforts to streamline the process and to foster EDI
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...
use and other forms of electronic clearance are a continuous theme for Port reform.
Maritime Safety Controls: The Ship Supervision Office of the Tianjin MSA (天津海事局船舶监督处) carries out the obligations of Port State Control
Port State Control
Port State Control is the inspection of foreign ships in other national ports by PSC officers for the purpose of verifying that the competency of the master and officers on board, the condition of a ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international conventions Port State...
according to the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding, and the obligations of Flag State Control
Flag State
The flag state of a commercial vessel is the state under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed.The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety...
according to the provisions of the Law of the Sea
Law of the sea
Law of the sea may refer to:* United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea* Admiralty law* The Custom of the Sea...
. It is tasked with monitoring the shipworthiness, safety and appropriate crewing of all vessels entering jurisdictional waters. In 2006, Tianjin was the first jurisdiction in China to introduce PSC checkpoints in accordance to the Tokyo protocol. In 2010, the MSA checked and examined 17,324 international vessels, and introduced an international maritime electronic checking and examining system to expedite the process.
Quarantine and Health Inspections: The Tianjin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (天津出入境检验检疫局) or TJCIQ, is tasked with the health inspection, quarantine, disinfection and sterilization of all trade goods, foodstuffs and live plants and animals, packaging materials and international ships, and the health inspection and quarantine services for all entering ship personnel and visitors, as well as the quality and safety inspection of chemical ore, metals and other cargoes with established standards. TJCIQ has stations at Xingang Liumi, the Shipping Service Center, Dongjiang, Nanjiang, Lingang, and Tanggu.
All ships must report to quarantine authorities at least three hours before anchoring, reporting the vessel's particulars, risk factors, and any suspected conditions among passengers or crew. Pratique
Pratique
Pratique is the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that he/she is free from contagious disease. The clearance granted is commonly referred to as Free Pratique....
and SSCC exceptions are available, but the SARS and Swine Flu
Swine flu
Swine influenza, also called pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus or S-OIV is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs...
crises increased the rigor of quarantine practices in China.
Migration and border control: Border control is the purview of the Tianjin Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection General Station (天津出入境边防检查总站), generally referred to as “Tianjin Immigration Inspection” or TJBJ by its Chinese initials. While it falls under the direct authority of the Ministry of Public Security, it is organizationally separate from the Tianjin Port PSB, employing 800 separate personnel. In the Port, the TJBJ has five local stations at Xingang Liumi, Donggang, Dongjiang, Nanjiang (which also covers the CNOOC oil platforms and the Lingang area) and Tanggu. Border Inspection deploys its own patrol boats (hulls marked Zhongguo Bianjian 12xxx), and can run immigration formalities while ships are at anchorage.
Tianjin Maritime Court
The Port of Tianjin falls under the jurisdiction of the Tianjin Maritime CourtTianjin Maritime Court
Tianjin Maritime Court is a maritime court with jurisdiction of all matters of national and international Maritime law. The Court was the first of the ten specialized maritime courts set up in China in 1986, and it has jurisdiction over all port, coasts islands and sea of Tianjin Municipality and...
for all matters of national and international Maritime law
Admiralty law
Admiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans...
, including all forms of maritime contracts, torts and offences.
The Court is based on TEDA, close to the Port, and it has also set up an “express window” at the Tianjin Port Service Center that provides legal consultation on matters of custom clearance, dispute resolution services, in situ summary issuance of emergency injunctions, protective writs, payment orders and similar, as well as a summary judgment service for simple and petty cases.
Vessel Traffic Service
The Tianjin Maritime Safety Bureau runs the Vessel Traffic Service Center (天津船舶交通管理中心), which provides traffic control in all parts of the port fairway, anchorages and berths.The VTS Center is located in an 88m tall control tower at the eastern end of the East Pier (38°58'31.471"N 117°47'12.461"E). Its control area extends 20 nautical miles (37 km) from the tower. All ships equipped with suitable communication equipment are required to submit to its shipping control authority. The VTS Center's main radio contact is on VHF
Marine VHF radio
Marine VHF radio is installed on all large ships and most seagoing small craft. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbours, locks, bridges and marinas, and operates in the VHF frequency range, between 156 to 174 MHz...
Channel 9 (Channel 65 for speaking after contact), all ships must maintain watch on that channel while on the port area.
Tianjin VTS controls the traffic by means of several overlapping systems. The Radar Surveillance System has a range of 20 nm and operates from two radar stations (situated at the control tower and at the MSA base in the Nanjiang island). The VHF system has a range of 25 nm and transmit from the Coastal Radio Station. Since March 2010，the VTS center operates a full AIS
Automatic Identification System
The Automatic Identification System is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by Vessel traffic services for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS Base stations...
system, with a range of 25 nm. As of 2009, the VTS Center had five CCTV sites (at the VTS Control Tower, the Nanjiang Radar Station, the Bohai Oil Tower, the Coastal Radio Building, and the Port Authority Yuhaiyuan Dormitory, the last two on the Haihe shore) for a total of 10 traffic monitoring cameras. Integrating these vessel traffic information sources, the traffic data processing system has a theoretical capacity of tracking 10,000 ships at a time.
The VTS Center also runs a hydro-meteorology data system (real time data from over 25 stations and gauges) and has the primary duty of passing along to all port operators any impending severe weather warnings.
Area Procedures and Traffic Rules
The Tianjin Port Main Channel is a conditional two-way channel, with severe weather conditions (wind forceBeaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
7 or higher), wide ships (75m width total, or any one 45m beam) long tows (200m or more), or dangerous cargoes triggering one-way restrictions. Maximum speed in the main channel is set at 13 knots westward and 15 knots eastward, minimum speed at 5 knots. The Chuanzhadong Channel's maximum speed is 8 knots. Keel clearance must be 1.7 m or more at the Main Channel, 0.8 m at the Chuanzhadong Channel, and 0.5 m in the rest of the fairway. All ships must display flags or light signals according to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 are published by the International Maritime Organization , and set out, inter alia, the "rules of the road" or navigation rules to be followed by ships and other vessels at sea in order to prevent collisions between two or more...
and the International Code of Signals
International Code of Signals
The International Code of Signals is an international system of signals and codes for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. Signals can be sent by flaghoist, signal lamp , flag semaphore, radiotelegraphy, and radiotelephony...
.
All vessels must report their ETA
Estimated time of arrival
The estimated time of arrival or ETA is a measure of when a ship, vehicle, aircraft, cargo, emergency service or computer file is expected to arrive at a certain place...
to the VTS Center at least 24 hours prior to entry into the VTS area (normally through their shipping agents), and apply for authorization. This initial report must contain the vessel’s ETA, name, nationality, call sign, draft, type, size, cargo situation and other information as needed. Position reports must be made at the following points:
- Before entering or leaving the Xingang Main Channel (at the VTS Gateline)
- Before crossing through the Xingang Fairway.
- Before doing a turnaround on the Xingang Fairway
- After getting berthed
- Before leaving berth
- Before clearing out the ship lock
- Before getting anchored
- After getting anchored
- Before departing the anchorage
Vessels are prohibited from entering or leaving the port, or shifting berths without special authorization from the VTS Center if 1) visibility is less than 1000 meters 2) There are hazardous icing conditions 3) wind force is 9 or over.
Port traffic is heavy overall, with 140-160 new oceangoing ship arrivals per day. In 2010, the port had a total of 97,276 ship movements, and around 70,000 ship movements involving ships over 60m LOA. Despite all the capacity increases, there are still some bottlenecks in the traffic. As of March 18, 2011, anchorage waiting time for a ship bound for the Nanjiang terminals was 2–4 days
Pilotage
Use of harbor pilots is mandatory for all ships bearing a foreign flag, for ships carrying dangerous cargoes, during hazardous conditions and other circumstances requiring pilot assistance (normally, most ships over 60m LOA with masters unfamiliar with the approaches). Pilots must be engaged at least 24 hours prior to arrival (normally by the shipping agent). The Pilot Center can also be contacted using VHF channel 8 or 16 during approach.The pilotage area includes all the Haihe fairway from Xingang Shiplock to Haihe Second Barrier, all of the Xingang fairway, BZ28-1 and BZ34 oil fields in the Bohai Bay, and the SZ 36 oilfield on Liaodong bay.
The Tianjin Port Pilot Center （天津港引航中心）is located in Tanggu, close to the Port Hospital, and is in charge of the training, certification and management of the harbor pilot corps, and of helping plan and coordinate pilotage operations. It is an autonomous agency directly under the Tianjin Transportation and Port Authority, having been separated from TPG in 2007. As with the rest of Tianjin Port, the Pilot Center has experienced very fast expansion in recent years. In 2002 it had 43 certified pilots, in 2007 it had 72 pilots (19 senior pilots), in 2008 it had 114 pilots,， in 2009 it had 121 pilots, and by April 2011 it employed 141 pilots, including 23 senior pilots, 19 first-class pilots, 29 second-class pilots, 37 third-class pilots and 16 trainee pilots, plus 17 administrative staff.
The Center runs three Pilot Stations, for Beijiang, Nanjiang and Dongjiang. Pilots are dispatched using 5 specialized pilot ships (administered by the Tug & Lighter Company) or, since 2004, through helicopter shuttle, into the anchorage embarkation points. These pilot embarkation/debarkation points are specified in the regulations as follows:
| Pilot Embarkation/Disembarkation point | Location | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Tianjin Lingang Pilot Embarkation/Disembarkation Point | 38°54′.73N/117°54′.25E | |
| Tianjin Port Main Channel Pilot Embarkation/Disembarkation Point | 38°53′.20N/118°10′.20E | For large ships not anchored in the Dagukou anchorages) |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel North No1 Pilot Embarkation Point | 38°57′.23N/117°56′.87E | |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel South No1 Pilot Disembarkation Point | 38°56′.25N/117°56′.60E | |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel North No2 Pilot Embarkation Point | 38°56'.53N/118°01'.45E | |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel South No2 Pilot Disembarkation Point | 38°55′.55N/118°01′.20E | |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel North No3 Pilot Embarkation Point | 38°55′.72N/118°06′.48E | |
| Tianjin Xingang Main Channel South No3 Pilot Disembarkation Point | 38°54′.73N/118°06′.22E |
The Tianjin Port Pilots guided 23,792 ship movements in 2007, they had surpassed 30,000 ship movements by 2009, and traffic has kept on growing since.
Aids to Navigation
The Tianjin Port's aids to navigationNavigational aid
A navigational aid is any sort of marker which aids the traveler in navigation; the term is most commonly used to refer to nautical or aviation travel...
(AtoN) system is fairly dense, and growing rapidly. The MSA Tianjin Aids to Navigation Office (天津海事局天津航标处) is responsible for the maintenance of all navaids within the Tianjin area. In 2004, the AtoN office controlled 141 navaids in the Tianjin jurisdiction, including 3 lighthouses, 12 light beacons, 22 lead markers, 44 day beacons, 55 light buous, 1 NDB station, 1 RBN/DGPS station, 3 radar transponders, 2 large AtoN ships, 2 small AtoN ship and 1 survey ship operating in two wharves. A big reform in 2008 greatly increased the AtoN density to accommodate the needs of the two-way 250,000DWT channels, so by 2010, the number of navigational aids had gone up to 245: 3 lighthouses, 57 light beacons, 22 lead markers, 148 light buoys, 5 articulated lights, 1 RBN/DGPS station, 2 AIS centers (Tianjin and Caofeidian), and 6 radar transponders. The AtoN maintenance fleet is now 7 strong. Expansion continues apace, and the recently commissioned Nangang channel was recently (July 2011) fully marked with 43 buoys.
The Port's channels are now fully laterally marked
Lateral mark
A lateral buoy, lateral post or lateral mark, as defined by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, is a sea mark used in maritime pilotage to indicate the edge of a channel....
to IALA
International Association of Lighthouse Authorities
The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities is a non-profit organization founded in 1957 to collect and provide nautical expertise and advice.-Background:...
Region A (red to port) standards. Racon
Racon
A racon is a radar transponder commonly used to mark maritime navigational hazards. The word is a portmanteau of RAdar and beaCON.When a racon receives a radar pulse, it responds with a signal on the same frequency which puts an image on the radar display...
and AIS
Automatic Identification System
The Automatic Identification System is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by Vessel traffic services for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS Base stations...
marked buoys are used at the critical turns and junctions of the fairway. The Haihe is lined with 26 shore beacons (44 including daymarks
Day beacon
A day beacon is an unlighted nautical sea mark. Typically, day beacons mark channels whose key points are marked by lighted buoys. Day beacons may also mark smaller navigable routes in their entirety. They are the most common aid to nautical navigation in shallow water as they are relatively...
) to provide guidance for the highly meandering river channel: left bank uses black and white piles flashing a white light in morse code A (•–) every 6 seconds, while the right bank uses red and white piles with white lights flashing morse code D (–••) every 8 seconds.
Winter buoys are in place from December 1 to March 1 every year, and placing and replacing the buoyage has become a very extensive operation. The 2011 change from winter to warm weather buoys involved replacing 136 buoys.
Lighthouses and Major Markers
Dagu Light: The landfall marker for Tianjin Port is the Dagu (Old style: Taku) Lighthouse (大沽灯塔) (38 56”20.1’ N, 117 58"47.1’ E), a wave-washed lighthouseLighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
built on 1978 on the spot where a lightship
Lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...
had been moored since 1878. The light is a cylindrical concrete tower daymarked with narrow horizontal red stripes on white, and riprap
Riprap
Riprap — also known as rip rap, rubble, shot rock or rock armour or "Rip-rap" — is rock or other material used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, pilings and other shoreline structures against scour, water or ice erosion.It is made from a variety of rock types, commonly granite or...
protection at its base. It has a 36m focal height (38m pile height), its light is a white flash at 10 second intervals with a range of 17 nautical miles. It has a racon
Racon
A racon is a radar transponder commonly used to mark maritime navigational hazards. The word is a portmanteau of RAdar and beaCON.When a racon receives a radar pulse, it responds with a signal on the same frequency which puts an image on the radar display...
signal of Morse
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
K (–•–). Fog horns were uninstalled in 1991. The lighthouse is situated at the western end of the Dagukou anchorage, mooring is prohibited for one mile around it.
The Main Channel Lead Lights （天津港主航道导标) are two sets of shore beacons that provide bearing guidance for ships entering the main basin (roughly from buoys 31-32). It consists of two sets of 7 lights each, the center-line lights marking the main lead line, and the other marking the edges of the two-way navigable channel. The Xingang Range Front is a skeletal tower daymark
Daymark
A daymark or a day marker is a structure such as a tower constructed on land as an aid to navigation by sailors. While similar in concept to a lighthouse, a daymark does not have a light and so is usually only visible during daylight hours...
ed with three black diamonds, located at the First Harbor Engineering Wharf No 1, in the north side of the Nanjiang Island. It has a focal height of 28m, and its light is white, occulting on a 5 second cycle. The Xingang Range Rear is a square skeletal tower with identical daymarks, located within the Bohai Oil Company compound, in the south side of Nanjiang island. It has a focal height of 52m, and its light is white with a 2s isochronic cycle. It has a racon emitting morse code M (––). The two lights align at a bearing of 281°36', which marks the main channel from the Dagu lighthouse up to the bend at the beginning of the Chuanzhadong channel.
The Chuanzha Midline Lead Lights (新港船闸中线导标), located on the northeastern shore of the Lanjiadao peninsula are one on the northeastern part of the Haihe south shore. The Rear Light has a focal height of 40m, an isochronic 4 second cycle, and an nominal range of 3 nautical miles. The Front Light has a focal height of 30m, an isochronic 2 second cycle, and a nominal range of 3 nautical miles. The two lights are aligned at a 294°22' bearing. The lights mark the route into the Chuanzhadong Channel and into the Xingang Shiplock, and can be used from buoy 44 on.
Hydrographic Surveying and Charting
As an artificial port dependent of dredged channels susceptible to silting, continuous depth surveying is critical to the Port. Tianjin Port is the base of the Tianjin MSA Hydrographic Survey Brigade (天津海事局海测大队) which covers the entire Beihai (Northern Seas) area, covering the BohaiBohai Sea
Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China. It is approximately 78,000 km2 Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of...
and Yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
seas, and is responsible for the hydrographic surveying, monitoring and charting of all waters and shipping channels in the area.
The Hydrographic Brigade has two survey ships (Haice 051 and Haice 0502), and recently started to use UAV for surveying
Weather Monitoring and Reporting
While the Port directly operates a number of hydro-meteorological stations (including tide gauges), weather forecasting is mostly the responsibility of the Tianjin Binhai New Area Weather Warning Center (天津市滨海新区气象预警中心), the local agency of the Tianjin Municipal Weather Bureau (天津市气象局). The Warning Center uses local (26 automatic weather stations in Binhai), national and satellite data to forecast marine and port weather. The Center's Radar Station at TEDA (an S-band Doppler weather radar tower) gives early warning of squalls, tornadoes, and all sort of sudden severe weather within 230 km of shore. The Tanggu Oceanic Weather Station (天津市塘沽海洋气象台), the first of China's 14 oceanic weather stations, forecasts the Bohai Sea area using data from the large weather observatory at Bohai Oil Platform A and number of marine telemetry stations.The Tianjin Weather Bureau operates both as a public service and a commercial enterprise. In 2009 it started to set up a number of “communication systems” to speedily send weather information to critical users. Of these, the Tianjin Port Meteorological Information Comprehensive Service System (天津港气象信息综合服务系统) and the Bohai Sea Oceanic Forecasting Service System (环渤海海洋预报服务系统) cater specifically to the need of port and shipping operators. The Weather Bureau also runs additional privately contracted weather monitoring for the Port, in particular deploying 150 automatic wind observation points to provide real-time data to the Dispatching Center (as wind strongly affects shipping operations).
The Tianjin Station of the Oceanic Environmental Monitoring Center (天津海洋环境监测中心站) of the State Oceanic Administration
State Oceanic Administration
State Oceanic Administration is an administrative agency subordinate to the Ministry of Land and Resources, responsible for the supervision and management of sea area in the People's Republic of China and coastal environmental protection, protecting national maritime rights and organizing...
(formerly the Tanggu Marine Station), located at the Port, carries out the environmental monitoring, surveying and forecasting duties, including red tide
Red tide
Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon also known as an algal bloom , an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column and results in discoloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas...
prediction.
Coastal Radio, Radio Beacons, Radar
RBN-DGPS: The Beitang RBN-DGPS Station (北塘RBN-DGPS台站) is located in the Beitang region (39°06′N 117°43′E), and provides RDFRadio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
and Differential GPS
Differential GPS
Differential Global Positioning System is an enhancement to Global Positioning System that provides improved location accuracy, from the 15-meter nominal GPS accuracy to about 10 cm in case of the best implementations....
service to all maritime users.
The station utilizes a 200W Amplidan 15770 transmitter with a 35 m x 60 m T-antenna
T-antenna
A T-antenna is an antenna whereby "a vertical or sloping wire is connected to the approximate centre of a straight horizontal top wire" . This forms its characteristic "T"-shape.-External links:*...
. The station was established in December 2001 and last refurbished in 2009.
| RBN ID | DPGS ID (Rs #l Rs #2 T) | Frequency | Rate | Emission Type | Message Type | Time | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT (–••• –) | 608 609 604 | 310.5 kHz | 200 bps Bit rate In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time.... |
A2A Types of radio emissions The International Telecommunication Union uses an internationally agreed system for classifying radio frequency signals. Each type of radio emission is classified according to its bandwidth, method of modulation, nature of the modulating signal, and type of information transmitted on the carrier... (MSK Minimum-shift keying In digital modulation, minimum-shift keying is a type of continuous-phase frequency-shift keying that was developed in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to OQPSK, MSK is encoded with bits alternating between quadrature components, with the Q component delayed by half the symbol period. However,... ) |
9-3, 16 | every 6 min | 200 nm |
Tianjin Coastal Radio: The Tianjin MSA Communications and Information Center (天津海事局通信信息中心) runs the Tianjin Coastal Station (天津海岸电台，Callsign: XSV; Call: Tianjin Radio; MMSI
Maritime Mobile Service Identity
A Maritime Mobile Service Identity is a series of nine digits which are sent in digital form over a radio frequency channel in order to uniquely identify ship stations, ship earth stations, coast stations, coast earth stations, and group calls...
004121100). The Station is in charge of the communicational obligations of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System
Global Maritime Distress Safety System
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System is an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft....
in the Port’s jurisdiction, supports the SAR Center’s communication needs, and supports the MSA duties of coordination and communications. It also provides public maritime correspondence services to ships within its range.
The Coastal Radio broadcasts from three antenna complexes: Tanggu Control Station（塘沽新港控台）is the central control center, located on the north shore of the Haihe about a kilometer upriver from the Xingang Shiplock. The Junliangcheng Antenna Tower (军粮城发信天线塔）in Dongli has the more powerful long-distance MF/HF transmitters. Finally, the Huanggang Receiver Station（黄港收信台）is the main listening station.
Radio Tables, NOT for use in navigation
| Channels | Watch Time (UTC) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 16, 19, 23, 25, 26, 62, 64 | H24 | ||
| Traffic Lists: Every odd hour sharp | |||
| VTS Traffic Reports: ch 65 1000 and 1500 | |||
| Channel | Shore Transmits (kHz) | Ship Transmits (kHz) | Watch Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distress International distress frequency Since early in the 20th century, the radio frequency of 500 kilohertz has been an international calling and distress frequency for Morse code maritime communication. The unit kilohertz was not introduced until 1960... |
2182 | 2182 | H24 |
| 415 | 4399 | 4107 | 1000-2000 |
| 813 | 8755 | 8231 | H24 |
| 1206 | 13092 | 12245 | H24 |
| 1651 | 17392 | 16510 | H24 |
| Traffic Lists: twenty minutes past every even hour. | |||
| Channel | Shore Transmits (kHz) | Ship Transmits (kHz) | Watch Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 405 | 4212.5 | 4174.5 | 1000-2200 |
| 803 | 8417.5 | 8377.5 | H24 |
| 1205 | 12581.5 | 12479 | H24 |
| 1603 | 16808 | 16684.5 | 2200-1000 |
| 1651 | 17392 | 16510 | H24 |
| Traffic Lists: 0100 0400 0600 1000 1300 1600 2200 | |||
| Navigational Warnings: Chinese 1400 English 0700 | |||
| Shore Frequency (kHz) | Ship Frequency (MHz) | Watch Time (UTC) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8600 | 8 | H24 | |
| 12969 | 12 | H24 | |
| Navigational Warnings: 0630 1330 | |||
| Gale Warnings: 0230, 0600, 1300, 1830, 2200 | |||
| Ice Warnings: 0600 1300 2200 | |||
| Sea Area | Frequency (kHz) | Signal Type | Antenna Location | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Ch 70 | VHF | 39°00′N/117°42′E | 25 nm |
| A2 | 2187.5 | SSB | 39°03′N/117°26′E | 100 nm |
| Also DSC monitored: 4207.5 6312 8414.5 12577 16804.5 | ||||
| Time | Navigation Warning | Weather Warnings | Ice Warnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0300 | en | en | |
| 0700 | en | en | |
| 1100 | en | en | |
| 1500 | |||
| 1900 | |||
| 2300 | |||
| Planned, not yet active as of Feb 2011. | |||
| Time | Navigational Warnings | Weather Warnings | Ice Warnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0020 | zh | zh | |
| 0420 | zh | zh | |
| 0820 | |||
| 1120 | |||
| 1620 | |||
| 2020 | |||
| Trasmitting since 2006, but not to standard NAVTEX specs. |
Search and Rescue
The Tianjin Maritime Search and Rescue Center (天津市海上搜救中心) has the primary SARSearch and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
coordinating duties in Port waters. Although it falls under the direct jurisdiction of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center of the Ministry of Communication rather than the TJMSA, the TJMSA has administrative authority and both units share leadership personnel. The SAR Center is located in downtown Tianjin, relatively far from the port, and is set up as an emergency command center, sharing use of the MSA's VTS, communication, AIS and CCTV systems. The SAR Center staffs a main base and four branch offices. It can be contacted via VHF channel 24, or using the specialized maritime emergency phone number 12395 (a number effective in most of China).
The Tianjin Search and Rescue Base of the China Rescue and Salvage Beihai Bureau (built in 1995) is the front-line SAR operations agency. It is located at the western end of the Tianjin Harbor Basin, on the Nanjiang island, next to the CNOOC Bohai Oil Compound. It covers 0.65 hectares and had a staff of 67 in 2009.
Tianjin SARC keeps three dynamic standby stations permanently staffed. These three stations are:
- Search and Rescue Base’s Wharf: Fast Rescue Boat (Huaying 387) and one Rescue Tug.
- Dagukou Anchorage: One Medium Rescue Ship (Beihaijiu 169)
- Beihai 2nd Point (10 nm south of Caofeidian, 38º50´N/118º25´E) : One Medium Rescue Ship (Beihaijiu 115)
All government patrol ships, and all TPG harbor craft are available for search and rescue on MSA or SAR Center authority. Ships belonging to CNOOC Bohai and other service companies based on the Port are also routinely asked to assist in all cases of accident or mishap, as well as to participate in regular disaster preparation exercises.
Air assets are relatively scarce. Closest China SAR seaplanes or helicopters are located at Yantai and Dalian. Tianjin SARC has in the past used commercial helicopters from CITIC Offshore Helicopter Service (the helicopter service provider for CNOOC Bohai) for SAR missions instead.
In December 2010, Tianjin Port started China's first volunteer Search and Rescue corps in China, at present composed mostly of specialists from within port employees.
Accident, Fire and Spill Response
Tianjin Group PSB Firefighting Detachment (天津港公安局消防支队) has the fire-fighting and fire prevention duties for both the land and water areas of the Port. As of 2009, the detachment had 13 firetrucks, and the Tanggu District’s Fire Detachment cooperates with any incidents on land (the standard emergency number 119 can be used to report incidents in the Port area, land or sea). Tianjin Port also has a volunteer fire department, a relatively uncommon outfit in China, set up to assist on fire monitoring, disaster firefighting, and rescue.On behalf of the Firefighting Detachment, the Tianjin Port Tug & Lighter Company operates two dual-purpose tugs/fireships (Jingang Xiaotuo 1 and Jinganglun 30), plus five other tugs that have significant fire-fighting capacity. Four more vessels are under construction. All harbor vessels with suitable pumps can be pressed into service in case of maritime conflagration.
Harmful Substance Spill Control: Tianjin MSA is the Port’s “National Operational Contact Point” pursuant to MARPOL
MARPOL 73/78
Marpol 73/78 is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978....
, and must be contacted (VHF 9) in all shipborne pollution incidents. The MSA is setting up an oil spill control center (市海上溢油及化学品事故应急反应中心), and stockpiles of materials with a target of being able to rapidly control spills of up to 2,000 tons (a mid-size spill). SOA has overlapping authority regarding spills and pollution, usually concentrated on platforms and pipelines incidents.
Emergency Medical Assistance: The Tianjin Port Hospital（天津港口医院) is the primary provider of emergency medical care in the port. It is a 314 bed comprehensive hospital, owned by TPG, that is specially licensed to deal with infectious disease outbreaks, quarantine and maritime accident trauma. Its orthopedic trauma department is especially well ranked. It also has special provisions to cater to foreigners. Maritime Telemedical Assistance Service can be requested by messaging "MEDICO XSV" by radiotelephony (preceded with PAN PAN
Pan Pan
Pan Pan is a lost small Hindu Kingdom believed to have existed around 3rd-7th Century CE., somewhere in Kelantan or Terengganu, Malaysia. Little is known about this kingdom. The kingdom was later conquered by Srivijaya under the leadership of Dharmasetu before 775 CE...
for urgent cases), or sending "2012 XSV CN MED+" by Radiotelex (prefixing “XXX” for urgent cases).
Tianjin Port Public Security Bureau
The Tianjin Port Public Security Bureau (天津港公安局) is one of the fourteen branch offices of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau, with a special status as a sub-bureau. It is responsible for public order, law enforcement, criminal investigation, road traffic control, and fire safety and firefighting. It has jurisdiction in the nearly 260 square kilometers of land and waters of the Tianjin Port, in the ships entering the port, in the premises of all of the sub-units of the Tianjin Port (Group) Company, and in other adjacent areas. It has three branch offices at Xingang (Beijiang), Nanjiang and Dongjiang, and 10 local police stations. As of 2010 it had 590 policemen (with an expansion to 1,000 officers planned), 153 civilian employees, 240 firefighters, plus oversight control of more than 1,500 security guards.Tianjin Port PSB has its own waterborne law enforcement unit running its own patrol boats, which are berthed on a floating pontoon station (天津港公安局水上治安派出所) built on a converted floating crane, currently located on the K1 berth of the Tianjin Port Passenger Terminal.
MSA Maritime Public Security Bureau and Law Enforcement Patrol Flotilla
The law enforcement arms of the MSA are the Maritime Public Security Bureau (天津海事公安局) and the Tianjin MSA Law Enforcement Patrol Flotilla (天津海事局巡查执法支队). The Maritime PSB (not to be confused with the Tianjin Port Public Security Bureau) is responsible for maritime law enforcement and carries out marine accident and criminal investigations. The Patrol Flotilla maintains around five patrol ships (hull numbers haixun 05xx) which monitor and manage shipping traffic, maintain navigational order and safety, and cooperate on patrol, escort, and search and rescue missions as needed.China Maritime Surveillance and FLEC
The Second Detachment of China Maritime Surveillance (中国海监第二支队) of the Tianjin Oceanic AdministrationState Oceanic Administration
State Oceanic Administration is an administrative agency subordinate to the Ministry of Land and Resources, responsible for the supervision and management of sea area in the People's Republic of China and coastal environmental protection, protecting national maritime rights and organizing...
has jurisdiction over the Bohai and Laizhou Bays, and all the coastal areas of Tianjin and Hebei. It monitors environmental damage, illegal use of the sea resources, violation of maritime regulations, damage to marine facilities, and also monitors sea ice, red tides, and other hazardous oceanic conditions. It deploys its own patrol boats (hull numbers ‘’’Haijian xx’’’), and a new base is under construction.
Fisheries Law Enforcement Command (FLEC) is a branch of the Fisheries bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture in charge of controlling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
China Border Troops and China Maritime Police (China Coast Guard)
Main responsibility for border protection in the Port of Tianjin lies on the Binhai New Area Public Security Border Protection Detachment (滨海新区公安边防支队), which is a unit of the Border Protection CorpsBorder Protection Corps
The Border Protection Corps was a Polish military formation that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits....
(公安边防总队), also known in English as the China Border Troops. The Border Troops are a branch of the People’s Armed Police under the direct control of the PSB. The Binhai Border Troops staff three stations located within the Port area (Donggu, Gaoshaling, Beitang), with five more under construction (Dongjiang, Lingang, Nangang, Binhai Tourist Area and Central Fishing Port).
The Tianjin Border Protection Maritime Police Flotilla (天津公安边防总队海警支队), usually called the China Coast Guard
China Coast Guard
The China Coast Guard serves as a coordinating body for maritime search and rescue in the territorial waters of the People's Republic of China...
in English, is the maritime branch of the Public Security Border Troops. The Maritime Police covers a jurisdictional area of 24,000 km2. Patrol boats (hull numbers haijing 12xxx) operate from the Border Troop wharf in Yujiapu in the Haihe, from the SAR wharf in Nanjiang, a new pontoon wharf in Nangang, and soon from now under-construction wharves in the Lingang Port Area and in the Beitangkou area. The Maritime Police has law enforcement, interdiction and search and rescue duties that overlap the remits of the MSA, Tianjin Port PSB, SOA, and FLEC. However, only the Maritime Police patrol vessels are armed, and the Maritime Police has first line jurisdiction in gendarmerie missions such as terrorism and piracy.
Ownership Structure
The Port of Tianjin is a state-owned enterprise (SOE), run as an independent corporation, with separate finances and a commercial orientation. The Port Owner is the Tianjin Municipality People’s GovernmentPolitics of Tianjin
The politics of Tianjin is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in the mainland of the People's Republic of China .The Mayor of Tianjin is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Tianjin...
(天津市人民政), through the Tianjin SASAC (Tianjin State Assets Supervision and Administration Committee—天津国有资产监督管理委员会), which is the full owner of the Tianjin Port (Group) Company (TPG). TPG's board is appointed by the Tianjin government. TPG is the effective holding company and main Port Operator
Port operator
A port operator is port authority or company that contracts with the port authority to move cargo through a port at a contracted minimum level of productivity...
, and it owns or has a stake on the majority of the Port's various operating outfits.
Since the 2009 merger, TPG’s main operating subsidiary is Tianjin Port Development Co. Ltd (TPD), which in turn is the majority shareholder of Tianjin Port Holdings Co. Ltd (TPC).
TPG has been injecting operational assets to TPC for several years, and since 2009 to TPD (most recently the Shihua Crude Oil Terminal). This has created somewhat of a functional division. The listed TPD, directly or through TPC, controls all terminals and direct cargo-handling operations. TPG still directly controls most of the utility, support and ancillary units related to the Port, and retains control of strategic planning. TPG is directly or indirectly a party in 53 joint ventures
Financing and Capital Structure
The two main operator holding companies are listed. Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited (天津港股份有限公司) was listed as an A shareA share
In finance the term A share has two distinct meanings, both relating to securities.* The first is a designation for a 'class' of common or preferred stock. A shares of common or preferred stock typically have enhanced voting rights or other benefits compared to the other forms of shares that may...
on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
Shanghai Stock Exchange
The Shanghai Stock Exchange , abbreviated as 上证所/上證所 or 上交所, is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other is the Shenzhen Stock Exchange...
in 1996.
Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited (天津港发展有限公司) was incorporated in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
and listed as a red chip
Red chip
Red chips stocks are the stocks of mainland China companies incorporated outside mainland China and listed in Hong Kong. The actual business is based in mainland China and controlled, either directly or indirectly, by the central, provincial or municipal governments of the Peoples' Republic of China...
stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...
in 2005.
Tianjin Port Finance Company operates as the in-house financial service provider for the Group. Besides basic services as discounting of commercial notes, bill settlement
Settlement (finance)
Settlement of securities is a business process whereby securities or interests in securities are delivered, usually against payment of money, to fulfill contractual obligations, such as those arising under securities trades....
and payments clearing
Clearing house (finance)
A clearing house is a financial institution that provides clearing and settlement services for financial and commodities derivatives and securities transactions...
, the TJPFC redirect funds between units of the Group in the form of loans, which circumvents the legal prohibition of direct financial transfers between members of a conglomerate.
Port Operations
Tianjin Port operates 365 days a year, 24 hours a day (on three shifts at 00:00-08:00, 08:00-16:00 and 16:00-24:00). As a comprehensive port, it handles all sort of cargoes, including dry and liquid bulk, general cargo, containers, vehicles, and passengers.The subsidiaries and partial-ownership partners of TPG are involved in all facets of port operation, including production, shipping agency, cargo agency, cargo handling, storage and transportation, infrastructure management, communications and information services, financial services, power supply, real estate development, health care, training of cadres and workers, education, port security, transportation, fire protection, port facilities management, environmental management, etc.
All production terminals are operated by autonomous companies that are either fully owned subsidiaries or joint ventures of TPG, with the exception of the “type 2” river terminals that are often specialized single-company wharves. A large number of logistics companies, both affiliated and unaffiliated with TPG run the cargo processing side.
Scheduling and Dispatching
The Tianjin Port Group’s Operation Department (天津港集团业务部) is in charge of coordinating the productive operation of the Port, and must be informed of all ship movements and major operations. The production schedule (ship movement plan) is arranged by the TPG Dispatch Control Center (天津港集团生产调度指挥中心), in coordination with the wharf operators, the MSA, and the pilot center. The Dispatch Center organizes ship movements, tracks pilotage operations, and supervises terminal operations via real-time CCTV monitoring. The Dagukou port area has a separate dispatching center (天津临港经济区船舶调度指挥中心).Foreign flag ships must engage a shipping agency, and the agency has responsibility of communicating with the Operations Department directly, giving notice of the vessel name and registration, nature of the ship, ship specifications, captain, goods type and quantity, and special needs (such as traffic diversion, tugs) 72 and 24 hours prior to arrival. Departures and in-harbor ship movements must be notified before 1130 on the day prior to movement (planning day runs from 1800 to 1800). Emergency and short-notice movements require special permission.
Harbor Craft
The main provider of harbor craft is the Tianjin Port Tug & Lighter Company. The TTLC operates the harbor tugs, fireboats, pilot boats and other ancillary craft such as the sightseeing boat Xinhaimen (used for inspection and visiting VIPs). The company runs 26 tugs, 5 pilot ships, 7 other ancillary crafts, 2 floating cranes (120t and 200t capacity); and around three dozen barges, the largest around 1340t displacement. The Dagusha channel is served by a subsidiary company of TTLC, the Lingang Tug Company (天津临港拖轮有限公司), operating four tugs.CNOOC Bohai Oil maintains a flotilla of 110 offshore support vessels (OSV), which are available for emergency work under MSA authority. Two of their floating cranes (800 ton and one 500 ton) can be commercially engaged for harbor duty.
Channel Maintenance
Hydrographic Surveying and Charting: As an artificial port dependent of dredged channels susceptible to silting, continuous depth surveying is critical to the Port. Tianjin Port is the base of the Tianjin MSA Hydrographic Survey Brigade (天津海事局海测大队) which covers the entire Beihai (Northern Seas) area, covering the BohaiBohai Sea
Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China. It is approximately 78,000 km2 Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of...
and Yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
seas, and is responsible for the hydrographic surveying, monitoring and charting of all waters and shipping channels in the area. The Hydrographic Brigade has two survey ships (Haice 051 and Haice 0502), and recently (2010) started to use UAV for surveying
Dredging: The Tianjin Dredging Company (天津航道局) is the organic waterway management company of the Tianjin Port Group. As of January 2010, the TDC deployed 100 boats, and had the largest dredging capacity of China, with a capacity of 300 million cubic meters and more than 500,000 KW of vessel power. Despite these numbers, the scale of fairway expansion and land reclamation in the Port means that several other construction companies operate large numbers of dredging vessels as well.
Dredging the Haihe Channel is the responsibility of the Tianjin Municipal Water Management Bureau (天津市水务局)，which maintains both navigability and river flow capacity (set at 800 m3/s). The Water Management dredgers operate from wharves at the Second Haihe Barrier and at the Haihe Tidal Barrier.
Services and Amenities
Facilities management: TPG operates as the port landlord, and provides most utilities, municipal services and ancillary services to the various port operators. The services it provides are very wide in scope, spanning everything from electrical power, to construction materials, to printing services. The main organ of TPG’s landlord function is the Tianjin Port Facilities Management Company (天津港设施管理服务公司), which manages and maintains all municipal services -including roads, railroads, bridges, water, and sewerage-, installs and maintains wharf equipment and other production material, as well as provides municipal administration, and provides engineering consultancy services.Bunkerage: The main bunker oil provider in Tianjin Port is Tianjin Chimbusco. Chimbusco had a monopoly on the supply of bonded bunker
Bonded warehouse
A Bonded warehouse is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the latter case a customs bond must be posted with the government...
oil (i.e. for foreign vessels) in China until 2006. Tianjin Chimbusco (a TPG subsidiary) retained its exclusive rights in Tianjin until 2009, and the end of the monopoly resulted in a black gold rush of competing bunkerage companies. Sinopec Zhoushan entered the Tianjin market in October 2010, in December 2010 SinoBunker did as well, and in June 2011, China Changjiang Bunker followed suit. This sudden rise in competition resulted in a serious price war and crashing prices in 2011. Most forms of maritime fuels are available, mostly IFO 120CST, 180CST and 380CST, MDG, and MDO. Bunkering operations are done by tanker barge, as most berths do not have fueling equipment. Equally, drinking water is mostly delivered by barge.
Chandlery and Supplies:Several dozen ship chandlers
Ship chandler
A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...
are capable of providing all necessary ship stores and deck and engine supplies both at berth or at anchorage. The oldest international chandler is Tianjin Ocean Shipping Supply company (天津市外轮供应公司), owned by the city. Most spare parts are available locally, and special orders can be flown in easily.
As the port of a very major city, facilities available to crews on shore leave are of course very extensive. Replacement crews are available at all times.
Cleaning and Sanitation Services: Bilge
Bilge
The bilge is the lowest compartment on a ship where the two sides meet at the keel. The word was coined in 1513.-Bilge water:The word is sometimes also used to describe the water that collects in this compartment. Water that does not drain off the side of the deck drains down through the ship into...
, slops and ballast water disposal is a major pollution hazard for the Bohai Bay, and it is tightly regulated by the MSA. Only specially authorized enterprises can engage in their removal and disposal, or in tank cleanup. Nevertheless, illegal dumping of ballast water is a persistent problem and one of the Port's major law enforcement challenges.
Tianjin Port Harbor Service Company (天津港港口服务公司) is the Group’s organic “housekeeping” service, providing garbage disposal and cabin, hold and bedding clean-up for ships at berth. Many other outfits are available for all sorts of cleaning, disinfection and deck maintenance.
Shipping Agencies: Engaging a shipping agent is mandatory for all foreign flagged ships, and Tianjin has several dozen such outfits operating at present. The largest agents are Tianjin Penavico (外轮代理公司), owned by TPG, and Tianjin Sinoagent (天津船务代理有限公司), a subsidiary of Tianjin Sinotrans
Sinotrans
Sinotrans Limited is one of the largest logistics companies in China. It is based in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Sinotrans Limited was incorporated in 2002 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003 with Sinotrans Group as its controlling shareholder. The Group injected into...
. Agencies have fairly extensive obligations as intermediaries for most paperwork procedures involving ship operators and the government or TPG, as well as their traditional duties of arranging ship supply and cargo handling.
Trade and Shipping Services
One of the strategic goals of the Port is to increase its high-value services business.The Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service District (天津国际贸易与航运服务区) is located in the North Basin area of the Beijiang port area, south of the Tianjin Port Container Logistics Center, adjacent to the business and services district of TEDA. The Service District is 900m east-west and 700m north-south, for a total of 88 hectares, (to expand to 100 hectares long-term). The Service District is composed of nine high-rise buildings, including the TPG main office building and the International Shipping Service Center.
The Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service Center (天津国际贸易与航运服务中心) provides "one-stop" service for six main aspects of shipping and trade: international trade, government services, market operations, information distribution, social supervision and personnel exchanges, and financial services. was put into operation on November 7, 2005, and moved to its current purpose-built, 59000 m2 building in 2007.
The main role of the Center is to centralize the clearing process, aggregating 270 government service windows from 14 government agencies, including customs, inspection and quarantine, maritime safety, border control, traffic control, maritime court, electronic customs clearance, business taxes, state audit and supervision, and labor management. various TPG companies, banks and insurers, trading and shipping companies, logistics operators, cargo and shipping agents. covering and other units and departments, as well as business services for international trade, shipping, logistics, transportation, customs declaration, shipping agents, cargo agents, finance, insurance, consulting, legal services, business services and other related businesses and institutions. A total of 70 organizations with 1380 employees operate in the Center. The Center also runs the Tianjin Shipping Index (天津航运指数), which provides shipping cost data for all of North China.
Production Terminals
The Port's docking terminals are operated by autonomous companies that are either fully owned by, or are joint ventures with TPC or TPD. While the 2004 Port Law allowed full foreign ownership of port facilities, Tianjin Port was slower than other major ports in allowing full external control of terminals. Still today, TPG is not the majority shareholder in only a few of the Port’s main terminals.| Terminal | Port Area | Type | Berths | Berth Numbers | Quay length | Depth | Quay Cranes | Area | Annual Capacity | Operators | Notes | |
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| Tianjin Passenger Terminal (天津港客运站) | Beijiang | Passenger | 3 (10,000 DWT) | K1-3 | 439 m | 8-12 m | 1 (10 t) | 1.03 ha | 350,000 pass. | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| First Stevedoring Company Terminal (天津港第一港埠有限公司杂货码头) | Beijiang | Multi-Purpose | 6 (3x10,000; 1x15,000; 2x20,000 DWT; ) | G1-3; G5-G6bis | |1,401 m | 11-10.5 m | 6x40 t; 2x35 t; 3x25 t; 1x10 t | ? | 1 Mt; 560,000 TEU | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| Tianjin Xingang Sinor Terminal (天津新港赛挪码头) | Beijiang | General & Specialist | 1 (38,000 DWT) | G4 | 200 m | 10.7 m | 1x10 t | ? | 0.6 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , GB Terminals |
Square-shaped cargo. | |
| Second Stevedoring Company Terminal (天津港埠二公司杂货码头) | Beijiang | Multi-purpose | 9 (4x70,000; 3x15,000; 2x25,000 DWT) | G7-G15 | 1,951 m | 15-8.5 m | 3x40 t; 1x61 t; 14x25 t; 11x10 t | 43 ha | capacity | TPD Tianjin Port Development Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited is engaged in port services in Tianjin Port, including container stacking and warehousing, non-containerised goods stevedoring and other various ancillary services. Its parent company is Tianjin Development.... |
2 Container berths; Bulk grain terminal | |
| Fourth Stevedoring Company Terminal (天津港埠四公司码头) | Beijiang | Bulk & General | 5 (5x30,000 DWT) | G16-20 | 912 m | 9-10.5 m | 5x25 t; 11x10 t | 46 ha | capacity | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
Timber，Mineral Ore | |
| Fifth Stevedoring Company Terminal (天津港埠五公司码头) | Beijiang | Bulk & General | 5 (3x60,000; 2x150,000 DWT) | G22-G26 | 996 m | 11.5-16.5 m | 19 (7x40 t; 12x10 t) | 35 ha | 2.3 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| Tianjin Port Container Terminal (天津港集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 4 (1x25,000DWT; 3x50,000 DWT) | G21; G27-G29 | 1,323 m | 12-16 m | 14 (3x30.5 t; 1x40.5 t; 10x61 t) | 70 ha | 1.6 M TEU | TPD Tianjin Port Development Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited is engaged in port services in Tianjin Port, including container stacking and warehousing, non-containerised goods stevedoring and other various ancillary services. Its parent company is Tianjin Development.... |
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| Tianjin Orient Container Terminal (天津东方海陆集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 4 (100,000 DWT) | G30-G33 | 1,138 m | 14 m | 10 (2×30.5 t; 3x40.5 t; 5×43 t | 45 ha | 1.4 M TEU | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , DP World, NWA NWS Holdings NWS Holdings Limited is the conglomerate flagship of New World Development. It was established in 2002 when its predecessor, Pacific Ports Company Limited, acquired New World Services Limited from New World Development and the infrastructure assets from New World Infrastructure Limited.The company... |
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| Tianjin Five Continents International Container Terminal (天津五洲国际集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 4 (100,000 DWT) | G35-G38 | 1202 m | 13.8-15.7 m | 12 (65 t) | 35 ha | 1.5M TEU | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , CMHI, China Shipping, NWS NWS Holdings NWS Holdings Limited is the conglomerate flagship of New World Development. It was established in 2002 when its predecessor, Pacific Ports Company Limited, acquired New World Services Limited from New World Development and the infrastructure assets from New World Infrastructure Limited.The company... , CP COSCO Pacific COSCO Pacific Limited , headquartered in Hong Kong, is a subsidiary and listed company of COSCO Group owned by COSCO Group. It is mainly engaged in container terminal operations, container manufacturing and leasing, shipping agency and freight forwarding.It has been a Hang Seng Index Constituent... |
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| Tianjin Port RO-RO Terminal (天津港滚装码头) |
Beijiang | Ro-Ro | 2 (50,000 - 80,000 DWT) | N1-2 | 471 m | 14.1 m | 0 | 13,8 ha | 200,000 CEU; 1.5 Mt edible oil | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , NYKK, WWL |
Also grain and edible oil. | |
| Tianjin Port Alliance International Container Terminal (天津港联盟国际集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 4 (100,000 DWT) | N3-6 | 1,100 m | 15.5 m | 11 (65 t) | 63,2 ha | 1.85 M TEU | TPD Tianjin Port Development Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited is engaged in port services in Tianjin Port, including container stacking and warehousing, non-containerised goods stevedoring and other various ancillary services. Its parent company is Tianjin Development.... , PSA International PSA International PSA International Pte Ltd, formerly Port of Singapore Authority is the second largest port operator in the world. The company's flagship operations are PSA Singapore Terminals, PSA HNN and PSA Marine... , OOCL Orient Overseas Container Line Orient Overseas Container Line is a Hong Kong-based container shipping and logistics service company.OOCL is one of the world's largest shipping and logistics companies with more than 280 offices in 55 countries around the world, providing 78 services covering international trading markets with a... , APMT |
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| Tianjin Port Euroasia International Container Terminal (天津港欧亚国际集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 3 (2x100,000; 1x70,000 DWT) | N7-9 | 1100 m | 16 m | 10 (65 t) | 83,6 ha | 1,8 M TEU | TPD Tianjin Port Development Tianjin Port Development Holdings Limited is engaged in port services in Tianjin Port, including container stacking and warehousing, non-containerised goods stevedoring and other various ancillary services. Its parent company is Tianjin Development.... ，COSCO Pacific COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company, known as COSCO or COSCO Group, is one of the largest liner shipping companies worldwide. It is a government owned company of the People's Republic of China... , APMT |
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| Tianjin Port Shenghua International Container Terminal (天津港盛华国际集装箱码头) | Beijiang | Container | 3 (100,000 DWT) | N10-12 | 1100 m | 15.5-18 m | n/a | n/a | 1.7 M TEU | TPC, Tianjin Terminal Link CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Jacques Saadé. It is the third largest container company in the world, using 200 shipping routes between 400 ports in 150 different countries... (France), China-Asia Shipping Co (HK) |
Under Construction | |
| TPG Global RO-RO Terminal (天津港环球滚装码头) | Beijiang | Ro-Ro | 2 (75,000 DWT) | N13-14 | 580 m | 11.4 m | 0 | 34 ha | 500,000 CEU | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , NYKK, WWL Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics is a privately owned Norwegian/Swedish shipping company, established in 1999 and co-owned by the two shipping companies Wallenius Lines and Wilh. Wilhelmsen.... |
Wharf is tilted to account for tides: west pier 6 m, east pier 4.5 m high. | |
| Tianjin Port Huicheng General Cargo Terminal (天津港汇盛杂货码头) | Dongjiang | General | 4 (2x40,000 DWT; 2x100,000 DWT) | N33-36 | 1075 m | 15.5 m | 6 (25 t) | 40 ha | 11 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , KIH |
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| Tianjin Port Pacific International Container Terminal (天津港太平洋国际集装箱码头) | Dongjiang | Container | 6 (100,000 DWT) | D1-6 | 2,300 m | 16 m | 23 (65 t) | 218 ha | 4 M TEU | PSA International PSA International PSA International Pte Ltd, formerly Port of Singapore Authority is the second largest port operator in the world. The company's flagship operations are PSA Singapore Terminals, PSA HNN and PSA Marine... ; TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| Tianjin International Cruiser Homeport (天津国际邮轮母港) | Dongjiang | Passenger | 2x200,000 DWT (6 planned) | Y1-2 | 625 m (2,000 m planned) | 11.5 m | n/a | ? | 8 ha | 500,000 passengers | ||
| Tianjin Beifang Ganghang Petroleum Terminal (天津北方港航石化码头) | Nanjiang | Oil | 2x30,000 DWT | Beifangyou 1-2 | 300 m | 5.5 m | 6 loading arms | Area | Annual Capacity | |||
| Tianjin Port Petrochemical Terminal (天津港石油化工码头) | Nanjiang | Oil | 4 (1x300,000; 1x80,000; 2x30,000 DWT) | S1-4 | 1227.5 m | 17.4 – 18.8 m | 24 (loading arms) | ? | 20 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| Tianjin Port Coke Terminal(天津港焦炭码头) | Nanjiang | Bulk Ore | 2 (70,000 DWT) | S5-6 | 684 m | 13.8 m | 7 (4x30 t; 3x40 t) / 2 loaders (2000 t/hr) | 10ha | 1.8 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
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| Tianjin Port Huaneng Coal Terminal(天津港中煤华能煤码头) | Nanjiang | Coal | 4 (150,000 - 200,000 DWT) | S7-10 | 1,110 m | 19.6 m | 4 loaders (2200 mm); 2 cranes (40 t) | 30 ha | 4 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , CNCGC China National Coal Group Corporation China National Coal Group Corporation, formerly China National Coal Industry Import and Export Corporation, is a coal mining enterprise controlled by State Council of the People's Republic of China. It is the second largest state-owned coal mining enterprise in Mainland China, and the third largest... , CHG China Huaneng Group China Huaneng Corporation is one of the five largest state-owned power generation enterprises in China, administrated by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, engaging in the investment, construction, operation and management of power generation assets and the production and sale of... |
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| Tianjin Port Yuanhang Ore Terminal(天津港远航矿石码头) | Nanjiang | Ore | 2 (200,000) | S11-12 | 445 m | 19.3 m | 16 (40 t) | ? | ? | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , OL |
comments | |
| Shenhua Tianjin Coal Terminal Phase 1 (神华天津港煤炭码头一期) | Nanjiang | Bulk | 3 (1x150,000; 2x70,000 DWT) | S13-15 | 890 m | 19.2 m | 3 loaders | ? | 45 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , CSE |
comments | |
| Shenhua Coal Terminal Phase II (天津港石油化工码头) | Nanjiang | Bulk | 3 (150,000; 70,000; 50,000 DWT) | S16-18 | 890 m | 19.2 m | 3 loaders | Area | 35 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , CSE |
Under construction | |
| Tianjin Port Dry Bulk Terminals(干散泊位) | Nanjiang | Bulk | 7 | S19-25; S27 | ? | 22.5 m | ? | ? | ? | ? | Under construction | |
| Nanjiang Specialized Ore Terminal (南疆专业化矿石码头) | 400 | Bulk | 1 (300,000 DWT) | S26 | 400 m | 22.3 m | area | 23 Mt | ? | ? | Under construction | |
| Tianjin Port CNOOC Crude Oil Terminal (天津港实华原油码头) | Nanjiang | Oil | 1 (300,000 DWT) | S28 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | CNOOC | Under construction | |
| Tianjin Port PetroChina Crude Oil Terminal PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited is a Chinese oil company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation , headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer, and was the world's most valuable company by market value as of September 28th 2010... |
Nanjiang | Oil | 1 (300,000 DWT) | S29 | ? | 22 m | arms (360 mm) | ? | ? | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , Petrochina PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited is a Chinese oil company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation , headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer, and was the world's most valuable company by market value as of September 28th 2010... |
Under Construction | |
| Tianjin Port Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York .... (天津港实华原油码头) |
Nanjiang | Oil | 1 (300,000 DWT) | S30 | 484 m | 22.5 m | 4 loading arms (360 mm) | Area | 20 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , Sinopec Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York .... |
Unloading rate 8000-12000 t/hr | |
| Tianjin Port CNOOC LNG Terminal | Nanjiang | Gas | 1 (300,000 DWT) | S31 | ? | 22.5 m | ? | ? | ? | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... , CNOOC |
Under construction. May be replaced by an FSRU unit. | |
| Sinochem Tianjin Port Petrochemical Terminal (中化天津港石化码头) | Nanjiang | Oil | 3 (1x50,000; 1x10,000; 1x5,000 DWT) | S34-36 | 509 m | ? | ? | 42 ha | 5 Mt | SinoChem,TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
950,000 m3 tanks | |
| Tianjin Port Nanjiang China Aviation Oil Petroleum Terminal (天津港南疆中国航油石化码头)工程 | Nanjiang | Oil | 2x50,000 DWT | ? | 560 m | 14.5 m | ? | ? | 6 Mt | CAO TPC | Under Construction | |
| Stolthaven Tianjin Chemical Terminal (天津思多而特临港仓储码头) | Lingang | Oil | 2 (1x20000; 1x60000 DWT) | L5-6 | 330+365 m | 10.5-14 m | ? | 13ha | ? | SNTG, LHAC | ||
| Lingang Vanke Bohua Beifang Terminal (临港工业区孚宝渤化北方码头) | Lingang | Liquid Chemical & Oil | 3 (2x50,000; 1x100,000 DWT) | Berth L7-9 | 620+380 m | ? | ? | 62 ha | Annual Capacity | Royal Vanke, Bohai Chemical, Tianjin Northern Petroleum | Under Construction | |
| Cofco Jiayue Grains & Oil Terminal (天津临港佳悦粮油码头) | Lingang | Liquid Bulk | 3 (1x70,000; 2x100,000 DWT) | Liangyou 1-3 | 310 m (berth1) | 16 m | ? | 30 ha | 6 Mt | COFCO; BGG;SMG Sinar Mas Group Sinar Mas Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia. It was formed in 1962. It has many subsidiaries including Asia Pulp & Paper and palm oil producer PT SMART.... |
Berths 2-3 Under Construction | |
| Huagang Heavy Equipment Terminal (天津华港重型装备制多用途码头) | Gaoshaling | General | 4x50,000DWT | ? | 1,000 m | ? | ? | 40 ha | 1,5 Mt | TPIA, HLC | Under construction | |
| Sinotrans CSC Northern General Cargo Center Terminal (天津中外运长航北方件杂货集散中心) | Gaoshaling | General | 4x50,000 DWT | ? | 1000m | ? | ? | 40 ha | 15 Mt | Sinotrans Sinotrans Sinotrans Limited is one of the largest logistics companies in China. It is based in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Sinotrans Limited was incorporated in 2002 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003 with Sinotrans Group as its controlling shareholder. The Group injected into... |
Under Construction | |
| Tianjin Port Well Yield Logistics Terminal (天津中港伟业物流码头) | Haihe | Multi-Purpose | 4 (3000) | No4 Wharf | 120+360 m | 5.5 m | 8 inch loading arm | 30ha | Capacity | |||
| Jinghai Petrochemical 908 Wharf (京海石化油脂908码头) | Haihe | Bulk Liquid | 2 (5,000; 3,000 DWT) | T1-2 | 137+55 | 6-5.5 m | Cranes | Area | Capacity | |||
| Hebei Maritime Transport Terminal (河北海运码头) | Haihe | Bulk Liquid | 2 | Shuixian Wharf | 145 m | 6 m | 3,000 m | ? | ? | |||
| Dagu Chemical Co. Liquid Chemical Terminal (大化丙烯液碱码头) | Haihe | Liquid Bulk | 2 (3,000 DWT) | Dahua 1-2 | 130+101 m | 5.6 m | ? | ? | ? | Propylene and Liquid Lye terminals | ||
| Tianlong Liquid Chemical Co. Terminal (天龙液体化工码头) | Haihe | Liquid Bulk | 1x3,000DWT | Tianlong | 120 m | 5 m | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Tianjin Binhai Alliance Petrochemical Terminal (天津滨海联合石化物流码头) | Haihe | Liquid Bulk | 2x3,000 DWT | Binhai Shihua East/West | 160 m | 7 m | 4 (?) | 30 ha | Capacity | |||
| North Sea Oil and Grain Company Terminal (北海粮油储炼厂码头) | Haihe | Liquid Bulk | 2 (3,000 DWT) | Beihai Liangyou | 185 m | 6 m | ? | ? | ? | COFCO | ||
| Tianjin Huagang Logistic Co. Terminal (天津华港物流杂货码头) | Haihe | General | 3 (3000DWT) | Huagang 1-3 | 384 m | 6 m | Area | Capacity | Notes | |||
| Tianjin Tiande Logistics Company Terminal (天津天德物流码头) | Haihe | General | 2 (3000 DWT) | Tiande 1-2 | 255 m | 6.2 m | 4 (16 t) | ? | ? | ? | Notes | |
| Sinotrans Tianjin Xinhe Distribution Terminal Sinotrans Sinotrans Limited is one of the largest logistics companies in China. It is based in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Sinotrans Limited was incorporated in 2002 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003 with Sinotrans Group as its controlling shareholder. The Group injected into... (中国外运天津集团新河储运码头) |
Haihe | General | 5 (3,000 DWT) | Xinhechuyun 1-5 | 488 m | 6 m | 9 (15 t) | 10 ha | ? | ? | Notes | |
| Xinhe Oil Storage and Distribution Center Terminal (新河储油所码头) | Haihe | Oil | 1 (3000 DWT) | Xinhe Chuyou | 123 m | 6 m | ? | ? | ? | Notes | ||
| Great Wall Lubricants Terminal (长城码头) | Haihe | Oil | 1 (3000 DWT) | Changcheng | 120 m | 5.6 m | ? | ? | ? | Notes | ||
| Guojiadai Terminal (郑家台码头) | Haihe | Bulk | 4 (3500 DWT) | Guojiadai 1-4 | 326 m | 5 m | 5 | 12.1 ha | 3.6 Mt | TPC Tianjin Port Holdings Tianjin Port Holdings Company Limited , formerly Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, is engaged in the operations of Tianjin Port, the warehousing and storage of cargo and the provision of freight forwarding and shipping brokerage services. It is parented by Tianjin Port . Its... |
Construction materials |
Service and Ancillary Wharves
A fair number of secondary wharves tend to the service, supply and maintenance ships that a complex port needs to function: these range from a number of temporary sand unloading wharves, needed for construction, to large bunkering wharves and the bases of the various law enforcement agencies. Some other ancillary wharves are in fact working cargo docks (Customs Type 3), but are generally not counted in the official production berths number needed to function.| Terminal | Port Area | Type | Berths | Berth Number | Quay length | Depth | Quay Cranes | Area | Annual Capacity | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Basin Barge Wharf (港池西侧驳船码头) | Beijiang | Barge | n/a | ? | 74 m | 4.8 m | n/a | n/a | n/a | Remains of former First Stevedoring Barge Wharf. | |
| First Pier Harbor Craft Wharf (一突堤港作船码头) | Beijiang | Service | n/a | Yitudi | 253.1 m | 7.4 m | n/a | ? | n/a | Tug wharf | |
| Chimbusco Bunkerage Wharf (天津中燃船舶燃料公司燃供油码头) | Beijiang | Oil | 2x10,000 DWT; 4x5,000 DWT | Gongyou | 186 / 612 m | ||||||
| ? | n/a | 1.2 Mt | In a basin at the southern tip of Pier No. 2. | ||||||||
| Third Pier Head Wharf (三突堤端部横码头) | Beijiang | General | 2 | Santudi | 246 m | 8.2 m | 5 | n/a | ? | Notes | |
| Tianjin Dongtudi East Service Craft Wharf (天津港东突堤东侧工作船码头) | Beijiang | Service | n/a | ? | 368+148 m | 5.5 m | 0 | n/a | n/a | T-shaped bridge pier for Tug & Lighter Co. | |
| Dongjiang Construction Materials Terminal (东疆建材码头) | Dongjiang Kuangjian | Bulk | 1 (10,000 DWT) | 212 m | 10 m | 5 | 2 ha | 1.3 Mt | Sea sand and stone | ||
| Dongjiang MSA Comprehensive Supervision Base (东疆海事综合监管基地) | Dongjiang | Patrol | 3,000 gt | ? | 200 m | ? | n/a | 2 ha | n/a | UAV ramp Under construction | |
| Binhai Ocean One International Yachting Club(滨海一洋国际游艇会)心) | Dongjiang | Passenger | 700+200 | ? | ? | ? | n/a | 5 ha | ? | Under Construction | |
| Xingang Shiplock Navigation Wharves (新港船闸导航码头) | Beijiang/Haihe | Service | n/a | ? | 261.8m (84.3+177.5 m) | 2.9-4.7 m | 0 | 0 | n/a | Two service wharves at both sides of shiplock | |
| Haihe Estuary Flood Prevention Dredging Wharf (海河口防汛疏浚码头 ) | Donggu | Dredging | ? | ? | 280 m | ? | n/a | Area | Annual Capacity | Being converted for MSA service. | |
| Tourist Boat Wharf (旅游船码头) | Nanjiang | Service | n/a | ? | 190 m | 2 m | 0 | Former Yuanyang service wharf. | |||
| Beihai Search and Rescue’s Tianjin Base Wharf (北海救助局天津基地码头) | NanjiangPort Area | Patrol | 2 | 115+65 m | 6-5.5 m | Quay Cranes | 0.7 ha | n/a | One of three dynamic rescue stations | ||
| Bohai Oil’s Materials Supply Company Comprehensive Service Terminal (渤海石油物资供应公司综合作业码头) | Nanjiang | Service/Oil | Berths | Bohaiyou 4-6 | 180+422+875 m | 5-6 m | 6 | n/a | ? | Supply ships wharf | |
| AtoN Base (天津海事局航标区基地) | Nanjiang | Patrol | n/a | Haibiao | 245 m | 6-4 m | 0 | Area | Angular Pier | ||
| MSA Shipping Management Wharf (海事局航政码头) | Nanjiang | Patrol | n/a | Hangzheng | 275 m | 4 m | 0 | ? | n/a | ||
| Nanjiang Harbor Terminal (南疆海港码头) | Nanjiang | Bulk | 1 (20.000 DWT container or 35,000 DWT bulk) | Haigang | 209 m | 8 m | 4 | 5,66 ha | 4.5M mt | comments | |
| Second Chimbusco Bunkering Base Wharf (天津港燃油供应2#基地码头) | Nanjiang | Bunker | 1x5,000 DWT | ? | 260 m | 6.5 m | ? | 14.3 ha | 3.8 Mt | Under Construction | |
| Second Marine Surveillance Flotilla's Base (中国海监第二支队天津基地) | Lingang | Patrol | 2 (1x1,500 gt; 1x1,350 gt) | ? | 180 m | ? | n/a | ? | n/a | Under Construction | |
| Tianjin Nangang Construction Materials Wharf (天津南港工业区建材码头) | Nangang | General | 2x5,000 DWT | ? | 300 m | 8.5 m | ? | ? | ? | Trial wharf | |
| Yongtai Wharf (永泰码头)， | Haihe | Service | ? | Yongtai | 131 m | 4 m | n/a | ? | n/a | Being decommissioned | |
| inotrans Yujiapu Terminal (外运于家堡码头) | Haihe | General | 2 | Waiyun | 150 m | 4.5 m | 0 | ? | n/a | Being decommissioned | |
| Second Barrier Water Conservancy Wharf (二道闸水利码头) | Haihe | Dredging | ? | ? | 88 m | 4.5 m | 0 | ? | n/a | ||
| Tianjin Shangyuan Terminal (天津上源码头港业公司码头) | Haihe | Bulk | 1 (3000 DWT) | Shangyuan | 97 m | 4.8 m | 2 | ? | ? | ? | Servicing the Chaori Power Plant. |
| Goods and Materials Cooperation Terminal (物资协作码头) | Haihe | Bulk | 1 | Wuzixiezuo | 75 m | 5 m | 2 | > | ? |
Tianjin Xingang Passenger Terminal
The Tianjin Xingang Passenger Terminal is located at the western end of the Beijiang area, immediately next to the Bomesc Shipyard. It is run by the Tianjin Passenger Company, a subsidiary of the Tianjin Port Group. The Terminal used to be the berth for visiting pleasure cruises, but since the opening of the Tianjin Homeport in July 2010，the Terminal serves only ferry services and coastal cruises.The terminal and ancillary buildings have 15,000 square meters of built surface.
The terminal has 3 berths of 8-12m depth that can serve passenger ships, Ro-Ro ferries, car carriers and cruise ships. K-1 Berth (the westernmost berth of the terminal) has a floating bridge that provides all-tide service to Ro-Ro vessels. It is also the most common loading berth for harbor pilots.
Four main regular ferry lines leave Tianjin, serviced by a fleet of three Ro-Ro ferry boats. There are two international destinations, Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
in Japan and Incheon
Incheon
The Incheon Metropolitan City is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City...
in South Korea, and two national destinations Yantai
Yantai
Yantai is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located on the southern coast of the Bohai Sea and the eastern coast of the Laizhou Bay, Yantai borders the cities of Qingdao and Weihai to the southwest and east respectively.The largest fishing...
in Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
Province and Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
in Liaoning Province, which (at present) only run in the summer. The ships and general route schedules are as follows:
- Putuodao (普陀岛) 16,234 DWT, ro-ro car ferry，137mx23.4mx5.6m; 1428 passengers. Dalian.
- Tianren (天仁) ro-ro car ferry; 12521 DWT; 188.5x24.8x6.91m; 25.2 knots; 544 passengers. Leaves Tianjin Port Thursday and Sunday, arrives at Tianjin on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Yanjing (燕京); ro-ro car ferry; 135x20m； 20 knots； 442 passengers，165 TEU capacity. Leave Tianjin on Monday 1100, arrives at Kobe on Wednesday 1400. Leaves Kobe on Friday 1200, arrives at Tianjin Xingang on Sunday 1400.
Sightseeing Tours
The Tianjin Port Haiyi Travel Service Co.(天津港海颐旅行社公司) runs short harbor trips on the sightseeing boat Haiyi (海颐号), with capacity for 132 passengers ( as of November 2011). It operates from the K1 berth of the Passenger Terminal. One-hour trips, day trips and two-day trips are available by engagement.The Tianjin Haihe Jinlu Youchuan company operates from the Sightseeing Boats Pier at the other side of the main basin. It operates two ships, the Haijing (海景号) with capacity for 150 passengers and the Jinhai (津海号) with capacity for 184 passengers. as of April 2011.
Tianjin Cruise Homeport
The new Tianjin Cruise Homeport started operation in the summer of 2010. It is located in the southern tip of the Dongjiang peninsula, at a 120 hectares development area that is expected to become a tourist complex including resorts, hotels and duty-free shopping centers. The all-services terminal building, designed by China Construction Design International (CCDI)China Construction Design International
China Construction Design International is an architecture firm headquartered in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, with offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, and New York City...
, is a large white GFRC
Glass fiber reinforced concrete
Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete is a type of fiber reinforced concrete. Glass fiber concretes are mainly used in exterior building façade panels and as architectural precast concrete.-Composition:...
-clad building designed to mimic the flow of white silk on an ocean breeze. The 60,000m2 terminal houses port administration, shipping agencies, restaurants, hotels and other services, and its migration and custom facilities are capable of processing 4,000 passengers at a time, for an annual capacity of 500,000 passengers. At present, the Homeport has two berths capable of accommodating ships up to 220,000 gt -enough to receive even the largest currently operating cruisers.
The Tianjin Cruise Homeport is the fourth cruise homeport in China, the first in Northern China, and currently the largest in Asia. It will be capable of providing all the bunkering, resupplying and maintenance needs of its homeported cruise ships. At present, two major cruise companies, Italy’s Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises is a British-American owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy.Founded in 1924, the company originally operated cargo ships, until the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between Italy and South America...
and US-Norway's Royal Caribbean International Cruises, will make Tianjin its homeport for their cruises in Asia. Two cruisers, Costa’s Costa Romantica and Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas will be homeported at Tianjin during the summer.
Yachting Marinas
In order to exploit the pent-up demand for yachting services among China's newly wealthy, there are three large-scale marina projects underway at the Tianjin Port. The business plans and targeted publics of these projects are in flux, and vary report by report.The Binhai Ocean One Yachting Club (滨海一洋游艇会) is being built at the southern end of the Dongjiang Scenic Area's artificial beach. It is planned to become a yachting port with 700-berths plus an extra 200 pile mooring slots. The first 71 berths are supposed to be completed by the end of 2011. The associated yachting club will be part of the Dongjiang entertainment complex, and target leisure users.
The Sino-Australia Royal Yacht City （中澳皇家游艇城）is a 1000-berth development （to be completed in 2012) in the Tianjin Central Fishing Port. This project intends to create a "Northern Yacht Industrial Center" that clusters yacht manufacturing, sales and marinas all in one. At present, its club intends to target the wealthiest clienteles.
The Hi-speed Tianjin Yacht City （海斯比天津游艇城） in the Binhai Tourist Area plans to add 3000 berths, on 66.7 ha of development, focusing on high-speed boats, sailboats and high-performance yachts. The 66.7 ha site will include diving services, yacht rentals, sport fishing, racing events, and other sport and leisure activities.
Ship Repair and Shipbuilding Facilities
Tianjin Port has several ship repair and shipbuilding facilities capable of carrying out almost all forms of ship repair and refitting for medium and small-size ships, and those shipwright capabilities are increasing rapidly as part of the Port’s expansion plans.Tanggu port area was one of the earliest modern shipbuilding areas of China. The still-functioning Taku Dockyard (now Tianjin City Shipyard) was founded in 1880, and is the oldest modern dockyard in Northern China. Many small shipyards operated in the Haihe region, but most have closed in recent years，or will soon close to make way for the large development projects of the Binhai Urban Core.
The main ship repair facility in the port is the CSIC Tianjin Xingang Shipyard. Founded in 1939, it is located at the very end of the main harbor, next to the Haihe shiplock. Immediately next to it is the CCCC Bomesc Maritime Industry's facility (built in 2007). On the Nanjiang region, Singapore’s Sembawang Shipyard
SembCorp Marine
Sembcorp Marine Limited is part of SembCorp Industries, an Asian company based in Singapore. It is listed on the Singapore stock exchange or SGX and is part of the Straits Times Index there...
entered on the first foreign joint shipyard project in China in 1997, in partnership with Bohai Oil. That shipyard in now the CNOOC Bohai Oil BOHIC subsidiary.
Currently under construction in the Lingang area is the Xingang Shipbuilding and Repair Base, an L-shaped facility taking over a 300ha area and 3900 m of coastline around Basin 1 of the Lingang harbor. The Xingang Shipyard will relocate to the new location once it is complete. The first dry dock is already completed and operational,and in 2011 produced 18 ships of 57,000 DWT or less. Once the Base is fully operational in 2015, it is expected to be able to produce up to 5,000,000 DWT of new vessel construction, repair 200 ships a year, and have sales of over 2 billion USD. Bomesc and the Xinhe Shipyard are also building shipbuilding/repair bases in the Lingang area facilities, and it is hoped by the Tianjin development authorities that Lingang will become the largest shipbuilding cluster in North China.
| Shipyard | Port Area | Quayside | Berths | Graving Docks | Floating Dock | Slipways | Cranage | Area | Capacity | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSIC Tianjin Xingang Shipyard China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation is one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China State Shipbuilding Corporation . It was formed by the Government of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1999 from companies spun off from CSSC. It is... (天津新港船舶重工有限责任公司) |
Beijiang | 1100 m -6 m | 6 | 3,000 t (104×17×8.5 m); 25,000 t (212×28×10.85 m) | 155×30×9.4 m | 40,000 and 15,000 | 1x200 t, 1x150 t, 2x75 t, 5x25 t, 4x15 t, 2x75 t; Craneship 1x300 t; Floating Crane 1x60 t. | Area | 30,000 DWT vessels new construction | 3 tugs 1670 hp, 2000 hp, 700 hp; | |
| CCCC BOMESC (天津中交博迈科海洋船舶重工有限公司) |
Beijiang | Quayside | 120 m; 240 m | Graving Docks | Floating Dock | Slipways | 1x150 t; 1x80 t; 11x50 t | 11 ha | Capacity | ||
| Tianjin City Shipyard(天津市船厂) | Haihe | 530 m | Berths | 3000 t；1000 t | 0 | 0 | 1 tug 400 hp | 2.66 ha | n/a | Founded in 1880 as the Taku Dockyard. | |
| CSSC Xinhe Shipyard China State Shipbuilding Corporation The China State Shipbuilding Corporation is one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation . CSSC consists of various ship yards, equipment manufacturers, research institutes and shipbuilding related companies in China... (天津新河船舶重工有限责任公司造船厂) |
Haihe | 500 m | 275 m | 6,000 t | Floating Dock | 1x7,000 t; 7x1,000 t | 1x70 t; 1x50 t; 2x30 t; 6x25 t; 6x15 t; 2x10 t | 63 ha | Capacity | Under 7,000 DWT vessels | |
| CNOOC Engineering Offshore Tanggu Fabrication Yard (海洋石油工程塘沽建做场地) | Nanjiang | 400m -5m | Berths | Graving Docks | Floating Dock | 8000 t 78 m; 4000 t 135m ; 2000 t 115 m; 4000 t 150m; 1800 t 138 m | Cranage | 20 ha | 60,000 t steel/yr | Offshore Engineering, Oil Platforms | |
| Bohai Oil Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (BOHIC) | Nanjiang | 800 m | 3 | 25,000 DWT 156x42 m | 60000 DWT 195x35 m | Slipways | 2x25 t 2x15 t 1 tug 400 hp | ha | Capacity | Previously Sembawang Bohai Shipyard. | |
| CSIC Tianjin Lingang Shipbuilding and Repair Base (中船重工天津临港造修船基地) | Lingang | 3,900m | 650m; 150 m | 520x110x13.3 m 440x80x13.3 m; 320x52x13.5 m 360x66x13.5 m | 80,000 | 1 | 1x600 t; n/a | 350 ha | 3 Mt new construction; 200 repairs; 4 ocean engineering sets | Under construction | |
| BOMESC 2nd Fabrication Base | Lingang | 800m | 760 m -12 m | Graving Docks | Floating Dock | 3,000 t, 6,000 t, 10000 t | n/a | 30 ha | Capacity | Under Construction | |
| Tianma Shipbreaking Yard (天津天马拆船工程有限公) | Beitang | 1,031 m | 3 | 282x55 m | 0 | 0 | 2x16 t, 1x25 t, 1x40 t | 5 ha | 150,000 t metal | Limited building, refitting and rebuilding capacities. |
Transportation and Logistics
Storage, transportation and all forms of logistics processing are the core activity of the Port, and it is no surprise that the majority of its land surface is dedicated to storage and processing facilities. A large number of companies operate storage yards, warehouses and tank farms on port land. There are two large-scale purpose-built logistics areas designed to provide support and facilities to the operating logistics outfits.The chief logistics unit of the Port Group is Tianjin Logistics Development Co., established in 2009 by merging the Tianjin Port Storage and Distribution Company (天津港货运公司) with other Group logistics assets. TLD runs 1,800,000 m2 of storage yard, with a capacity for 32,000 TEU of containers, and is responsible for the establishment and management of the dry port network and the establishment of intermodal routes, as well as being the principal drayage
Drayage
In the shipping industry and logistics, drayage is the transport of goods a short distance, often as part of a longer overall move. A drayage trip can typically be completed in a single work shift. The term drayage is also used for the fee paid for such services.The term originally meant "to...
provider.
Roads and Railways
Internal Railroads Two main lines (First and Second Port Railroads - 进港一二线) service the Beijiang and Nanjiang areas respectively. The Jinji railway connects these lines as a de facto ring railroad. A web of around 60 km of internal railways go deep into the wharves and storage yards of the Beijiang area. The Nanjiang area is primarily connected through the Nanjiang Rail Bridge. This bridge was expanded to double-track in 2010, for an annual capacity of 70 million tons. A second bridge is under construction. A moving belt corridor runs parallel to the railway, carrying coal and ore to the Bulk Logistics Center.A major expansion of intermodal capacity will come with the completion of the Third Port Railway (进港三线) project servicing Dongjiang and the Container Logistics Center. The new line will terminate at the Tianjin Xingang North Railway Container Central Station (天津新港北铁路集装箱中心站), which is located in 140ha of land in the Dongjiang area, directly north of the Huicheng terminal, and is expected to be completed in 2012. The Xingang North Station will be purpose-built for the intermodal transfer and management of containers, and it will be supported by a new large automated marshalling yard in Beitang (北塘西编组站).
Highways and Roads: The internal roads in the Port carry a enormously heavy, noisy and noisome flow of traffic, and traffic jams are not uncommon at certain bottlenecks. The internal roads at the three main Port areas a broken grid pattern, the east-west roads connecting with the expressways that feed the port. The main north-south roads are the Yuejin road transfixing the Container Logistics Center, the Meizhou (Americas) Road in the Dongjiang Area, and the
The backbone road of the Port is the Haibin Expressway (S11, 海滨高速), which runs north-south and roughly represents the Port’s western boundary. As the expressway follows the original coastline, most of the land east of the road is reclaimed land, and thus belonging to the Port. The main east-west feeder roads are the S40 Jingjintang Expressway
Jingjintang Expressway
Opened in September 1993, the Jingjintang Expressway , also known as the Jingtang Expressway, links Beijing via central Tianjin to the Tanggu District in eastern Tianjin...
(S40, 京津塘高速), which merges into the Jingmen road; the Jinbin Expressway
Jinbin Expressway
The Jinbin expressway is a direct expressway link from central Tianjin to Tanggu and TEDA. It is 33.54 km in length, 28.54 of which exists as an expressway, and 5 km as a city express road.-Route:...
(S13, 津滨高速) and the G103
China National Highway 103
China National Highway 103 is the main traffic corridor between Beijing and Tianjin. It goes from Beijing to Tongzhou, Tianjin and then to the coastal area of Tanggu on the outskirts of Tianjin, and runs to approximately 150 km....
Highway, which both merge into the Xingang Fourth Road; and the S30 Jingjin Expressway (京津高速), which becomes the Jishuanggang road and then the Xingang 8th Road into Dongjiang. In the south, the Tianjin Avenue and the Jinpu Expressway (S50) connect into the Nanjiang and Lingang areas.
These feeder roads connect with the extremely thick Beijing-Tianjin road hub, with seven radial roads from Beijing and XX from Tianjin. Of these, the Jinji Expressway
Jinji Expressway
Opened in late September 2003, just days before October 1 - China's National Day holiday - the Jinji Expressway runs entirely within Tianjin, and links Tianjin city in the south with Ji County in the north. Hence the name Tianjin - Ji County - Jinji Expressway. The expressway runs for 104...
(S1) is one the main alternative routes into Beijing (through Pinggu) and the Northwest （through the 6th Ring Road and the G6 expressway
G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway
The Beijing-Tibet Expressway , commonly abbreviated to Jingzang Expressway , also known as Beijing-Lhasa Expressway or China National Expressway 6, is part of the Chinese national expressway network and is planned to connect the nation's capital, Beijing, to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous...
), and the Changzhen Expressway
G25 Changchun–Shenzhen Expressway
The Changchun–Shenzhen Expressway , commonly referred to as the Changshen Expressway is an expressway that connects the cities of Changchun, Jilin, China, and Shenzhen, Guangdong. When complete, it will be in length....
(G25) is the main North-South connector.
Water Routes: The deep water routes into the Port pass through a Traffic Separation Scheme
Traffic Separation Scheme
A Traffic Separation Scheme or TSS is a traffic-management route-system ruled by the International Maritime Organization or IMO.The traffic-lanes indicate the general direction of the ships in that zone; ships navigating within a TSS all sail in the same direction or they cross the lane in an...
south of Caofeidian, and can be quite a crowded waterway. The possibility of rehabilitating the northern parts of the Grand Canal resurface as speculation on a regular basis in relation to the South–North Water Transfer Project.
Internal Waterways: The three main port areas are fairly poorly connected by road, requiring rather long detours to transport any cargo or equipment between them. While several bridges and tunnels directly linking Dongjiang with Beijiang and Nanjiang areas are projected for future development, these are still in early planning stages. To help relieve this internal bottleneck, in April 2010 the Port introduced a lighter
Lighter (barge)
A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps," with their motive power provided by water currents...
route connecting Nanjiang (N-10 berth) and Beijiang (Tianjin Container Terminal), using one heavy barge (7800 gt, 200 TEU). Another regular lighter route connecting Beijiang with Dongjiang was established on September 2010.
Airports: The Port is 30 minutes away from Tianjin International
Tianjin Binhai International Airport
Tianjin Binhai International Airport is an airport located east of Tianjin, in Dongli District. It is one of the major air cargo centers in the People's Republic of China....
, and 120 minutes from the Beijing International
Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport, is the main international airport serving Beijing, China. It is located northeast of Beijing's city center in an enclave of Chaoyang District that is surrounded by rural Shunyi District. The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital...
. Two small general aviation aerodromes —Tanggu Airport （塘沽机场） and Binhai Dongfang General Heliport (滨海东方通用直升机场)— provide offshore helicopter shuttles and other services to Port operators.
Logistics Centers, Yards and Warehouses
The Tianjin Port Container Logistics Center (天津港集装箱物流中心) is located in the north part of the Beijiang area, in 7.03 km² of reclaimed land. The Center currently hosts 42 logistics enterprises, and it has 350 hectares of yard space, 26 hectares of warehouses, or about 60% of the Port’s container handling capacity. Tianjin Port International Logistics Development Co. Ltd. , (TPL) was established in 2003 to take charge of the development and construction, operation and management of the Center.The Tianjin Port Bulk Logistics Center (天津港散货物流中心) opened on 2000, built on 26.8 km2 of former salt flats to the south of Donggu. It serves as a large storage and distribution area for coal, ore and other bulk cargoes. As of April 2011, there were 268 enterprises operating within it. The Bulk Logistics Center is being relocated south, to the Nangang area, in order to free its land for urban development (i.e. the Binhai Central New Town - 滨海中部新城)
The 12-5 plan envisages six large logistics parks in the port area by 2015: the Container Logistics and Bulk Cargo Centers will be upgraded to “Parks” (with additional policy privileges), joined by the newly established Nangang Chemical Logistics Park (南港化工物流园区), Lingang Industrial ProLogis Logistics Park (临港工业普洛斯物流园区), and the Central Fishing Port Logistics Park (中心渔港物流园区).
| Yard Name | Port Area | Type | Total Area | Warehouse Area (number) | Container Yard | Tank Volume | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Supply Distribution Yard (物捷二堆场)) | Beijiang | General | 14.8 ha | n/a | ? | n/a | TPLD | Clearing and Intermodal |
| Zhongchu Freight Yard (中储股份货场) | Beijiang | Bulk | 12.7 ha | 8,000 m2 (1) | ? | n/a | ZDH | Notes |
| Zhongchu Container Yard (中储股份集装箱场) | Beijiang | Bulk | 9 ha | 10,338 m2 (2) | ? | n/a | ZDH | Both Zhongchu yards are contiguous |
| Tianjin Kaitai Logistics Yard (天津开泰国际物流堆场 )) | TCLC | Container/Cars | 7.73ha | 6000 m2 | |n/a | n/a | TPLD | Opened Nov 2011 |
Intermodal Transportation and Dry Ports
The hinterland of the Tianjin Port (as determined by existing railway and road patterns) is vast. It includes the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, and the provinces of HebeiHebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
, Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
, Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
. Tianjin is also one of the railheads of the Eurasian Land Bridge
Eurasian Land Bridge
The Eurasian Land Bridge, sometimes called the New Silk Road, is a term used to describe the rail transport route for moving freight and passengers overland from Pacific seaports in Siberia and China to seaports in Europe...
.While officially the port of Lianyungang
Lianyungang
Lianyungang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north...
is the start of the Chinese branch of the Land Bridge, Tianjin is often identified as the start of the Bridge in publicity material: as the Bridge is a route using existing rail lines rather than a dedicated purpose-built line, strictly speaking all Chinese ports can qualify as railheads. In keeping with the goal of becoming North China's Trade and Logistic Center, the Port has been expanding its intermodal
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
transport capacity, and deepening its presence in inland regions through dedicated lines, dry ports and direct partnerships.
TPL owns and operates ten different scheduled railway routes, dispatching 50-car (100 TEU) trains to 10 different cities in China: Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
, Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
, Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, Urumqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
, Baotou
Baotou
Baotou is a mid-sized industrial city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, its urban areas are home to a population of approximately 1.78 million, with a total population of over 2.65 million accounting for counties under...
, Shizuishan, Erenhot
Erenhot
Erenhot is a city located in the Gobi Desert, in the Xilin Gol league of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China . It has 16,330 inhabitants and the elevation is...
, Alashankou
Alashankou
Alashankou or Alataw Pass is a border town in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge. The town is named after the Dzungarian Gate , a pass connecting...
, Manzhouli
Manzhouli
- Administration :Manzhouli is divided into ten subdistricts and one town. Six of the subdistricts of Manzhouli are grouped into a district. Technically however, only a prefecture-level city can have districts, so Manzhouli's lone district is not officially listed.- History :In ancient times the...
, the last three being border crossings. In the first three quarters of 2010, these dedicated train lines carried 143,000 TEU, 46,000 TEU of which went to Eurasian Bridge destinations.
Future Developments
Short Term Plans: In 2011 TPG plans to spend 13.5 billion yuan in 150 projects, including 86 new projects. The short term goals for the Tianjin Port are to achieve a cargo throughput of 430 million tons and a container throughput of 11.5 million TEU and a dry port throughput of 150,000 TEU. The 2012 goals are a cargo throughput over 460 million tons, container throughput over 13 million TEUs, with total port activity producing 100 billion RMB added value.Middle Term Plans: For the Eleventh Five-Year plan period (2011–2015), the Tianjin Port Group plans to invest CNY45 billion (US$6.8 billion)in port and shipping facilities, with the intention of adding 214 million metric tons and 2.85 million TEU of throughput capacity.
As well as many new berths, fairway shipping lanes will be expanded to a 765 m width and 21 m depth by 2012, allowing for two-way traffic of 300,000DWT vessels. Support facilities are also being expanded, with 5.3 million square meters of container stack yard space, increased logistic processing capacity (including expansion of the dry port
Dry port
A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations....
system), and expansion of the shipping services center. By 2015, cargo throughput should be at least 550Mt, and container throughput should be up to 17 million TEU per year.
A particularly significant part of the five year plan is the development of the Dongjiang Bonded Port Area into a true "free trade port," (自由贸易港), combining the five logistic functional areas (international transshipment, international distribution, international procurement, international entrepot trade and export processing) with the development of the shipping and trade services and the leisure and tourism areas. This would include fostering tax-free shopping, and tourism and leisure centered on the scenic area, yachting club and the Cruise Homeport.
Long Term Plans：The more long term plans for the development of Tianjin Port are both monumental in scale, and consistent with the ambitious pace of change of the last decade. According to the "2010-2030 Comprehensive Plan for the Port of Tianjin", approved in late 2010, Tianjin Port will expand to include nine port areas, the five present ones plus Gaoshaling (高沙岭港区), Dagang (大港港区) and Hangu (汉沽港区)Port Areas. This "One Port, Nine Areas" expansion will entail integrating the port areas of the already in-development Dagang TEDA Development Area, the Tianjin Lingang Economic Area and the Tianjin Central Fishing Port into the a greater Tianjin Port.
According to this plan, by 2020 Tianjin Port would extend from north (Hangu) to south (Dagang) for a distance of almost 90 km, with five independent shipping channels extending to the east all the way to the 20m isobath line. By 2030, the planned land area of the Port will be 245 square km, with 200 km of quays and a staggering 390 production berths. If these plans are realized, almost the whole of the Tianjin Municipality coast will form a single, continuous port and logistic center built almost exclusively on reclaimed land, in all likelihood the largest artificial port on earth.
Friendship Ports
AmsterdamPort of Amsterdam
The Port of Amsterdam is a seaport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The port is located on the bank of a bay named IJ and the North Sea Canal, with which it is connected to the North Sea. The port was first used in the 13th century and was one of the main ports of the Dutch East India Company in the...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Barcelona, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Incheon, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
Kobe
Port of Kobe
The Port of Kobe is a Japanese maritime port in Kobe, Hyōgo in the greater Osaka area, backgrounded by the Hanshin Industrial Region.Located at a foothill of the range of Mount Rokkō, flat lands are limited and constructions of artificial islands have carried out, to make Port Island, Rokko...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Melbourne
Port of Melbourne
The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
Montreal
Port of Montréal
The Port of Montreal, is a port located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the St Lawrence river. It one of the largest inland ports in the world, it is the second busiest port in Canada , and it is one of the busiest ports in North America....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Philadelphia
Port of Philadelphia
The Port of Philadelphia, within the municipal boundaries of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is located near the navigable end of the Delaware River, south of New York City and north of Washington, D.C...
, USA Tacoma
Port of Tacoma
The Port of Tacoma is an independent seaport located in Tacoma, Washington. The port was created by a vote of Pierce County citizens on November 5, 1918...
, USA Tokyo
Port of Tokyo
Port of Tokyo is one of the largest Japanese seaports and one of the largest seaports in the Pacific Ocean basin having an annual traffic capacity of around 100 million tonnes of cargo and 4,500,000 TEU's....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Trieste
Port of Trieste
The Free Port of Trieste, is an Italian port on North Adriatic Sea in Trieste, Italy.It is subdivided into 5 different Free Areas, 3 of which have been allotted to commercial activities:*the Old Free Area...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Zeebrugge
Port of Zeebrugge
The port of Bruges-Zeebrugge is a large container, bulk cargo, new vehicles and passenger ferry terminal port in the municipality of Bruges, Flanders, Belgium, handling over 50 million tonnes of cargo annually.-General:...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...