The Port of Cork and the Port of Xiamen this week formally signed a Sister Port Agreement in order to jointly promote freight, the cruise business, logistics and other business opportunities within the two ports. The agreement will help to strengthen the understanding and long-term cooperation between the two ports.
The Port of Xiamen is an important deep water port located on Xiamen Island, the adjacent mainland coast and along the estuary of the Jiulongjiang River in southern Fujian, China.
It is ranked the 8th largest container port in China and ranks 17th in the world. With the capacity to handle 6th-generation large container vessels, there are nine container terminals in total consisting of 74 berths.
In 2013, Xiamen handled 191 million tons of cargo, including 8.08 million TEUs of containers. This sister port agreement will see The Ports of Xiamen and Cork mutually agree to providing excellent services to shipping lines operating between the two Ports and they will encourage new shipping companies in setting up direct lines between the two ports.
As well as strengthening the exchange of industry shipping information, shipping technology and the international shipping market, the agreement shall further strengthen any technical training and port visits so as to jointly promote mutual business cooperation and friendship.
Speaking at the signing of the sister port agreement, Chairman of the Port of Cork, John Mullins said: “We are honoured to welcome the Port of Xiamen to Cork today to sign this sister port agreement which will be of great benefit to both ports. We anticipate good collaboration and exchanging of port knowledge into the future and we know the Port of Cork can learn a lot from Xiamen in terms of port re-development and expanding our own port services.”
During their visit to the Port of Cork, the delegates from Port of Xiamen received a presentation on the Port of Cork facilities and services and were also updated on the Ringaskiddy Port Redevelopment plans and areas of port industry opportunities.
Commenting Chief Executive of the Port of Cork, Mr Brendan Keating said: “This really is an excellent opportunity for the Port of Cork and one we intend to maximise. Since An Bord Pleanalas decision to grant permission for alterations to the terms of the Ringaskiddy Port development permitted in May 2015, our team has been progressing with the project. We were delighted with the opportunity to share our redevelopment plans with Port of Xiamen and for them to gain an understanding of the needs for our redevelopment. While not on the same scale as Port of Xiamen, we will be able to jointly learn through our port industry experiences.”
