Integral to national development, Taiwan’s ports are larger, smarter and greener.
Built on reclaimed land in New Taipei City’s Bali District, near where the Tamsui River meets the sea, Taipei Port is full of construction activity. Over recent years sand and silt dredged from the port navigation channels have been used to reclaim land to build new logistics and warehouse sites. Trucks are also busy unloading earth at the South Terminal Area (STA), another new section taking shape in the port, which is ready to welcome Tonglit Logistics Co. The company has provided logistics services for cars at its existing facility since 2004. “As Tonglit has seen phenomenal growth over the past two decades, its future at STA is promising,” said company President Alex Shih (施皇吉).
Taipei Port is now a major Taiwan import-export hub for motor vehicles, and Tonglit is expected to handle over 210,000 cars this year, up from 70,000 in 2010. It is also the country’s second largest container port, handling nearly 1.8 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) last year. Currently it occupies a land area of 459 hectares and will expand to 1,038 hectares by 2041. Its growth epitomizes the overall development of Taiwan ports in order to maintain international competitiveness in the face of contemporary supersized oceangoing vessels.
Taipei Port is the country’s top import-export hub for motor vehicles, which are handled by Tonglit Logistics Co. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
For an island nation, ports are vital, as they handle 90 percent of import-export cargo, according to Taiwan International Ports Corp. (TIPC) in the southern city of Kaohsiung. TIPC is fully funded by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and governs the operations of seven international commercial ports around Taiwan. Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung and Taipei Ports handle containers as well as bulk cargo; Anping, Hualien and Suao Ports move only bulk cargo. Keelung Port oversees the operation of Taipei and Suao’s ports, and Kaohsiung Port oversees Anping’s. Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s top container port, ranking 18th globally last year, while Keelung Port hosts the majority of cruise ships docking in Taiwan.
“Developing ports is high on the government agenda because it affects employment in sectors from shipping, logistics and warehousing to customs and maritime engineering,” said Tsai Shu-hui (蔡淑慧), director of TIPC’s Planning and Development Department, adding that major hubs like Kaohsiung Port create around 100,000 jobs.
Heavy Demands
To maintain the competitiveness of Taiwan’s maritime hubs, the government has renewed the Master Plan for Future Development and Construction of International Commercial Ports every five years since the mid-1990s. The most recent one, covering 2022 to 2026, will earmark NT$49.5 billion (US$1.58 billion) for the reinforcement of relevant infrastructure and is expected to attract follow-up investment of up to NT$320 billion (US$10.2 billion) from entities like Tonglit, which plans to invest NT$7 billion (US$219 million) for the construction of a smart industrial park with a dedicated section for handling electric cars at STA.
At the top of the list of priorities for TIPC is upgrading Kaohsiung Port, which the government sees as the jewel in the crown of national shipping operations. The focus is on the creation of a modern deepwater container terminal in the face of stiff competition from East Asian counterparts. Tsai said that a port with water 14 meters deep was considered more than adequate 15 years ago, but as the size of container ships has grown significantly in recent years, the depth now has to be at least 18 meters for a port to claim deepwater status. The Seventh Container Terminal (SCT) currently under construction in Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s largest and deepest berth, intended to accommodate the biggest ships, and competitors like those in Vietnam’s Hai Phong and the Philippines’ Manila are also quickly moving in the same direction.
“Taiwan’s ports are undergoing transformation in response to government policy for developing specific sectors like offshore wind power,” Tsai said. Solidly reinforced cargo terminals for transporting heavy wind turbine components like rotor blades and towers have been built at major ports, mainly in Taichung, along Taiwan’s west coast, for shipping to wind farm construction sites in the Taiwan Strait, one of the best areas on the planet for generating this form of renewable power. Taipei Port has demarcated an area in the STA for Century Wind Power Co. to produce foundations for offshore wind turbine structures that are shipped via a heavy cargo terminal in the area.
New Waves
Ports have developed more diverse commercial revenue streams as part of government policy on marine tourism and recreation sectors. According to TIPC, the number of cruise ships calling at the four major international ports in Hualien, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Taichung reached a peak of 667 in 2019, carrying a total of 1.05 million passengers, also a record high. Both Keelung and Kaohsiung are now positioned as destination ports for international cruise liners. A new cruise terminal opened in Kaohsiung in March 2023 and another such facility is poised to open in Suao by the end of the year.
A rendered image shows the new passenger terminal at Suao Port scheduled to open at the end of 2023. (Courtesy of Keelung Port, TIPC)
Previously a barely tapped market, private recreation vessels can now enjoy the coastlines too. In response, yacht marinas are opening, with one of the best equipped in Anping including a hotel resort. Offering 62 slips and still expanding, it strengthens a trend in line with government hopes to bring the total number of such berths around Taiwan to about 1,600 by 2026.
As ports facilitate cargo logistics and support key government-designated industries, they join sophisticated global counterparts in implementing a high level of automation and intelligence, especially in new port facilities, Tsai said. She noted that SCT in Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s first fully automated container terminal, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and safety. Smart industry facilities installed by Tonglit at STA will feature 5G-enabled self-driving vehicles moving around the site to prepare automobiles for import and export. With embedded smart technology, Taipei Port could handle a total of 300,000 automobiles a year. Over the past several years, TIPC has tested underwater robots in Anping, Hualien, Kaohsiung and Taichung ports to evaluate and improve ability to detect underwater damage, a task hitherto carried out by human divers. Drones being tested at selected ports may soon come into widespread use. “A port area is so huge that it’s hard to rely solely on human risk detection. Drone imaging of a specific place over a period of time makes it easier to spot potential hazards or damage,” Tsai explained.
Anping Port’s marina is part of the government’s marine tourism strategy, which includes opening up coastal waters for recreational use. (Courtesy of Argo Yachts Development Co.)
See Green
Another global port trend that Taiwan has embraced is environmental protection, with all seven international commercial ports recognized as EcoPorts by the European Sea Ports Organization as of 2017. This status allows for valuable international exchanges of views on green practices with over 70 other ports globally. The Green Port Award System (GPAS) established under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation has recognized eco-friendly measures by Taiwan ports as well. In 2018 Taipei Port became the first of three ports in Taiwan to be granted the GPAS award for green measures from planting trees and establishing photovoltaic systems to reducing vessel speed and movements in the port area to increase fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Last year TIPC won a Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Award given by Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy for using slag, a residue of the steelmaking process, to create new land mass in Taipei Port.
Hualien Port is a model site for implementing carbon neutrality practices. (Courtesy of Hualien Port, TIPC)
In 2022 TIPC took a major stride as an environmentally responsible entity by establishing a sustainable development executive committee that implements projects like developing Hualien Port as a model site for carbon neutrality. Taiwan’s ports are proactive in incorporating initiatives by clients such as Tonglit, which has conceived its new industrial park as both smart and green. The company plans to have an energy microgrid on the site running on solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. The electricity generated will power Tonglit itself and may generate enough surplus to offer energy solutions to vessels at dock.
As well as infrastructure, TIPC invests in personnel resources, and its 2,100 staff at headquarters and ports around the country are offered training courses at all levels to keep up with professional developments and the industry’s latest trends. “Our ports are being transformed to meet high standards in new aspects from construction methods to operation. We are at the forefront of international excellence in large-scale sustainable facilities, and this is all part of Taiwan’s position as a net-zero, high-tech-enabled international maritime gateway,” Tsai said.
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw