A giant vessel departs from Qingdao Port of SPG. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Major Chinese port operator SPG – or Shandong Port Group – moved into high gear during the recent Spring Festival holiday, reporting a number of highlights and outstanding achievements at its ventures.

SPG's Qingdao Port boosts operations across board

Qingdao Port in East China's Shandong province handled a total of 621 vessels amid the break, for year-on-year growth of 29.11 percent. At the same time, it moved 12.47 million tons of cargo, an increase of 12.8 percent over the same period last year.

According to officials from the container business sector, the vessel productivity of the container ship Manchester Maersk, was on top form. This lunar year's first 20,000-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) class container vessel – which docked at the port on Feb 12 -- achieved 268 moves per hour, a record for this type of vessel. On Feb 14, the vessel productivity of the Xin Wei Hai – part of the COSCO Shipping Southeast Asia service fleet -- attained 211.6 moves an hour, setting an efficiency record for the service.

Meanwhile, officials from the oil business sector reported that Qingdao Port handled a total of 29 crude tankers during the holiday, with the oil volumes amounting to 2.39 million tons, up 15.8 percent year-on-year.

Furthermore, 4.3 million tons of dry bulk cargo were handled, for year-on-year growth of 11.1 percent.

Rizhao Port prioritizes business performance, hits records

At Rizhao Port, over 3,000 rail wagons were moved by freight trains on a daily basis from Feb 11 to 14, up 7 percent year-on-year. Of these, the handling of iron ore wagons witnessed a year-on-year increase of 49.2 percent. On Feb 11, the first day of the Spring Festival, Rizhao Port No 2 branch company loaded 2,600 freight wagons in a single day, hitting a new high. During the night shift on Feb 14, Rizhao Port railway transport company transported 170,000 tons of cargo, a record for a single shift.

Yantai Port delivers positive outcomes during holiday

A total of 306 vessels were handled at Yantai Port from the Spring Festival Eve to the third day of the Lunar New Year. The facility moved 4.11 million tons of cargo, up 152 percent year-on-year, achieving growth in terms of both quantity and benefits.

As of Feb 14, Yantai Port had loaded and unloaded 152,000 tons of ore and 890,000 tons of bauxite during the break. It handled one 300,000-plus DWT ship and four 200,000-plus DWT ships. Meanwhile, 165,000 tons of iron ore were blended, 282,000 tons of bauxite were sent on and 225,000 tons of iron ore were transferred at the port.

The port also handled two giant VLCC crude tankers, with oil volumes reaching 396,800 tons. A total of 205,900 tons of oil were transported via oil pipelines.

Bohai Bay Port posts strong growth

At Weifang Port, there were four vessels at anchor from the Spring Festival Eve to the first day of the Lunar New Year, with 58,000 tons of cargo being loaded and unloaded. The handling operations of the Liberia-flagged general cargo ship Nodus were especially important, with 31,850 tons of clinker being handled within 31.3 hours, for net productivity of 1,017 tons an hour, a record since the facility started operations.

Binzhou Port handled 12 vessels during the break, moving 188,600 tons of cargo and 617 TEUs of containers, increases of 9 percent and 33 percent respectively.

According to officials from the Guangli port area of Dongying Port, a total of 11,800 tons of cargo were handled on Feb 11-12. Preliminary estimates are for total cargo throughput of 64,000 tons during the Spring Festival, ensuring a good start to the first season.