Direct sailings help local firms

Point-to-point direct sailings between a "greater" offshore cross-strait transshipment center has helped boost transshipped cargo volume at Kaohsiung Port, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Since nearby export processing zones were given permission in November to use the offshore cross-strait transshipment center at Kaohsiung Port to conduct point-to-point direct sailings with Fuzhou and Xiamen ports in Fujian Province, many firms previously planning to relocate to the mainland have stayed in Taiwan, as the direct links save them about 25 percent in transport costs, the report said. Against this background, the transshipment volume at Kaohsiung Port increased by 600,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) to 7. 4 million TEUs in the first half of this year, compared to the same period of a year ago. Economic Processing Zone Administration Director-General Joseph Chou (周嚴) said it takes only 11 to 12 hours to sail directly between Kaohsiung and Fuzhou and Xiamen, reducing transport costs by between 17 percent and 24 percent for domestic firms.