Over the past two months since it resumed full operations,YANTIAN has been making every effort to maintain smooth operations while upkeeping stringent COVID-19 preventive measures at the port. August and September are peak seasons for shipping, however, ports, importers/exporters and the logistics sector are currently affected by insufficient shipping space, serious vessel delays and the pandemic.

Resume high productivity level to help speed up the flow of imported and exported cargo

As an important gateway for import and export container traffic of China, YANTIAN shall, on the one hand, build a firm "first line of defense" against possible imported cases of COVID-19 as required by governments at all levels on COVID-19 prevention and control; on the other hand, actively communicate and coordinate with the industry to maintain smooth logistics flow for international trade and tackle challenges together.

Under the guidance and support of governments at all levels, regardless of impact of stringent COVID-19 preventive measures, long-lasting heavy workload operation, coupled with uncertainties brought by typhoons and bad weather, YANTIAN continued to improve its productivity by unleashing its capacities, deploying more resources and optimizing operational processes to make the impossible possible.

Since the second half of June, the number of vessels calling at YANTIAN has been multiplying. Thanks to the close communication with Yantian Pilotage Station and the cooperation of all professional pilots, YANTIAN welcomed nearly 280 calls of large vessels in August, which was about 2.6 times of the number of calls in June. The throughput of Yantian also increased from only about 620,000 TEU in June, as was affected by the pandemic, to over 1.05 million TEU in July, and doubled to 1.25 million TEU in August, which has basically resumed to the level before the pandemic, and is expected to continue to grow.

In September, despite still being affected by COVID-19 prevention and control measures,  YANTIAN, with the joint efforts of all related government departments, strived to further increase its productivity by 10% to the highest level ever before the pandemic last year.

On 19 August,  YANTIAN completed the single vessel operation with 22,398 TEU, which not only set a new record in South China for the second time in two days, but also set a new record for single vessel operation in the country!

On 11 August, “Ever Ace”, the world’s largest container vessel, called at  YANTIAN on her maiden voyage, and  YANTIAN is her only port of call in South China.

In-gate tractors with export laden containers further increases to 12,000 per day

YANTIAN is the last port of call for international container services in South China. Insufficient shipping space and serious vessel delays result in severe backlog of export laden containers and international transshipment containers in YANTIAN, with the stock multiplying beyond the amount before the pandemic and the stacking time being three times of that before the pandemic. In order to ensure the normal operation of the terminal to safeguard the trade logistics, YANTIAN launched the reservation system for the in-gate of export laden containers to effectively guide cargo owners and tractors to arrange the delivery of export laden containers according to the vessel’s estimated time of arrival, while also significantly improved the traffic outside the port and alleviated container backlog in the port area.

With the continuous improvement in port operation capacity,YANTIAN has once again increased the number of in-gate tractors to satisfy the export demand in the peak season. From 00:00 on 7 September 2021, YANTIAN has increased the number of in-gate tractors with export laden containers to 12,000. This is a 1.4-fold increase compared to 5,000 at the end of May.

YANTIAN will also continue to improve the reservation system based on the feedback from customers and the communication with organizations like Shenzhen Container Transportation Association. On the one hand, YANTIAN will arrange technical teams to upgrade the system; on the other hand, YANTIAN will launch optimization solutions shortly for issues reported by most of customers, such as reservation time slot and CY cutoff, to do its best to smooth the operation of the terminal and tractors.

Barge network and port alliance for service upgrade

YANTIAN links up with the small and medium-sized terminals in the Pearl River Delta and the eastern and western parts of Guangdong with the 15 barge services to extend the port functions to the cargo catchment areas. In face of the peak shipping season,YANTIAN has enhanced communication and cooperation with terminals and barge companies to increase the frequency and capacity of barge services, and has jointly provided various solutions to bring more convenience to importers and exporters of the region.

Supported by the government of Shenzhen and Dapeng Customs, YANTIAN has launched the "Yantian-HICT Port Alliance" and gradually expanded the port alliance to the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Recently, under the joint efforts of YANTIAN, Shenzhen Customs and Dongguan Customs, the "Yantian-Dongguan Port Alliance" is put into trial operation, which will set an example for the upcoming cooperation with Shunde and Nanhai. At the same time, Yantian-HICT Port Alliance has also increased its weekly throughput to 1,800 TEU by increasing the shipping capacity with efficient schedule, significantly alleviating the burden brought by container backlog.

Intermodal services provide strong support

YANTIAN leverages its intermodal services to integrate resources and facilitate innovation based on the strategic cooperation with Guangzhou Railway Group. Regardless of the extremely busy business in the peak season. Operated under full capacity with a very high container yard density, Pingyan Railway created a new operation record by handling 1,124 TEU on 1 September, breaking the daily throughput record of 1,030 TEU set last year.

The project "Intermodal Services in the Great Bay Area" launched by Shenzhen Customs at the end of August is favored by cargo owners. Through this project, cargo arriving at YANTIAN can be directly loaded onto long-haul vessels as long as the clearance procedures have been completed with the local customs, effectively alleviating the pressure of container backlog and shortening the waiting time of cargo at the port.

At present, Pingyan Railway dispatches eight services and receives eight on a daily basis, which means, there is a train departing from YANTIAN or arriving at YANTIAN every 1.5 hours. From January to August this year, the total export laden container throughput of Pingyan achieved a year-on-year increase of 65%.

Seek land for container storage to ease pressure of exporters and the port

In view of the lack of land for container storage inside and outside of the port, YANTIAN keeps close communication with relevant government authorities regarding the issue to seek their permissions for land use around the port area and other areas as temporary storage yards, relieving the pressure generated by huge volume of export laden containers flowing to the port.

Make efforts to ensure smooth traffic flow in the Greater Bay Area

In the face of the global shipping turbulence, YANTIAN will continue to work together with governments at all levels and the logistics sector to improve the efficiency and service level of shipping services for importers and exporters while upkeeping stringent COVID-19 preventive measures, contributing to China’s efforts of “stabilising international trade”.