Other potential tenants are transshipping, trading, warehousing and processing companies, he said.
Jean Rong-feng (簡榮芳), secretary-general of International Ocean Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association, Taiwan (台北市海運承攬公會), said the free trade port status will give Keelung Harbor a boost, as his member companies have expressed high interest in the zone.
Alan Huang (黃仁傑), director of Danzas AEI Ocean Services Taiwan Ltd, said his company is taking a wait-and-see attitude. The company is an arm of express operator DHL Taiwan Corp. The yet-to-be-finished Taipei Port, formerly known as Damshui Port, seems to be better equipped, he said.
One major defect of Keelung Harbor is its size limitations. As the harbor adjoins Keelung City, there's no room to expand. Additionally, the rock-hard geology also restricts the depth of the port, so it can only receive small and medium-sized ships.
Taipei Port, which was just granted status as an international port last year, will begin to play a more important role once the first container terminal is completed in 2008.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications plans to finish all seven terminals for Taipei Port -- designed to handle 2.8 million TEU containers -- by 2014.
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