The automated container terminal of Qingdao Port [Photo/WeChat account: shangdong-port]

Chinese port business operator Shandong Port Group (SPG) sailed through the evaluation of the Qingdao Port Automated Container Terminal Standard System recently, paving the way for it take the lead in China for installing and operating  automated container terminals, according to local media on Sept 1.

Company executives said the new fully automated terminal, in the port city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province, represents the most advanced form of container handling in ports.

They said the new achievement will lead to the development of automated terminals, with leading international levels of technology employed by SPG.

The automated container terminal in Qingdao Port is located on the south bank of Qingdao Qianwan Port Area. Plans are for it to develop six berths in three phases. Under the efforts of the Liangang Innovation Team led by Zhang Liangang, an expert in automated container construction, two berths for phase I were approved in 2013.

On May 11, 2017, the terminal started operations, becoming the first fully automated container terminal in Asia, with a waterfront of 660 meters, two berths and a designed handling capacity of 1.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) per year.

Officials said the average loading and unloading efficiency of the terminal is 36.2 containers an hour-50 percent higher than similar terminals in the world.

Two berths for the second phase of the project started construction in June 2018 and went into operation on Nov 28, 2019.

Officials said it took one and a half years, only one fifth of the construction cycle of similar docks in the world and construction costs were only 70 percent of that of similar docks abroad.

In addition, there were the first of six world-pioneering scientific and technological achievements made, including a hydrogen-powered automatic rail crane and 5G+ automation technology.