An ambitious plan to build a huge new container port on the Yangtze delta will need an extra US$150m to initiate the physical construction process, said sources in Shanghai. The extra finance will be needed to relocate the population of a fishing village around the new terminal area.
A US$1.7bn terminal construction programme will initially involve the building of an artificial island in the estuary, followed by bridge links connecting the mainland with Dayangshan and Xiaoyangshan islands in Hangzhou Bay.
The first phase construction will run concurrently with the building of up to five new container-handling berths, all designed to handle the latest-generation container ships. Hong Kong’s leading shipping line, Orient Overseas Container Line, has been mentioned as a possible operator of the first set of berths, due to be completed by 2005.