Port of Tianjin

The Port of Tianjin, formerly known as the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing. The port is often identified as Tianjin Xingang, which strictly speaking refers only to its seaport area. It is located on the western shore of the Bohai Bay, in the estuary of the Haihe River, 170km south east of Beijing and 60km east of Tianjin city. It is the largest man-made port in mainland China, and perhaps the largest in the world (depending on definition). It covers 107 square kilometers of land, with a total quay shoreline of over 21.5 km and 101 production berths in 2009.

Background
Tianjin Port handled 413 million tons of cargo and 10.1 million TEU of containers in 2010, making it the fourth largest port by throughput tonnage in the planet, and the eleventh in container throughput. This makes it the third largest port in China, behind the merged Ningbo Port and the Port of Shanghai, and sixth in container throughput. The port trades with more than 400 ports in 180 countries and territories around the world. It is served by over 115 regular container lines. run by 60 liner companies, including all the top 20 liners. Capacity is increasing at a high rate, with 550-600Mt of throughput capacity expected by 2015.

The port is part of the Binhai New Area district of Tianjin Municipality, the main Special Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China of Northern China, and it lies directly east of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area. The Port of Tianjin is at the core of the ambitious development program of the Binhai New Area, and due to this developmental storm, change occurs at such an accelerated pace that information can become outdated in months.

Location
The Port of Tianjin is located in the coast of Tianjin Municipality, in the former county of Tanggu, on the coast between the estuaries of the Haihe to the south and the Yongding River to the north. To the west, the Port borders the city of Tanggu (now the Urban Core of the Binhai New Area) and the TEDA. To the east, the port opens up to the Bohai Bay.

The littoral area of Tianjin is dominated by coastal shallows, mud shoals and salt pans. These features make deep water navigation dependent on extensive dredging, but it also means that land reclamation is an obvious solution to the problem of siting construction. Tianjin Port is thus largely man-made through large-scale dredging and reclamation.

The Bohai Bay is one of the three bays that compose the Bohai Sea. The Bohai Sea is a fairly shallow (average depth 18m), semi-enclosed water body, with relatively poor flow into the Yellow Sea. It is also the drainage point of the Yellow River and the Haihe, two of the largest (and muddiest) river systems in China. This results in very high levels of silt, and in present times, pollution.

Port commerce and coal
One of the major cargoes handled and stored in the Port of Tianjin is coal. There are specialized berths in the Port of Tianjin are devoted to handling coal exports and imports. The Port of Tianjin's Coal Terminal has capacity for 89 million tons of coal throughputs annually. The Port of Tianjin's Container Yard covers over 350 hectares and can handle 8.3 million tons of containerized cargo at any given time. The Port of Tianjin Coal Terminal Company has a yard of 300 thousand square meters with capacity to store more than 1.7 million tons. The Port of Tianjin contains a total of 280 hectares of yards for bulk cargoes, and it can store up to 5.1 million tons of bulk at one time. The Port of Tianjin Shenhua Terminal Company offers 430 thousand square meters of yards with capacity for one-time storage of over 1.4 million tons of cargo.

The Tianjin municipal government, in partnership with the Port of Tianjin, has undertaken efforts to speed port development, improve port functions, and develop additional facilities. According to World Port Source, these efforts include the construction of a new logistics center in southern Xinjiang, a new bulk container logistics center, and several smaller goods distribution centers. During the five-year planning period from 2006 to 2010, the Port of Tianjin invested 45 billion yuan to expand the port and improve port services.

The first phase of the new developments increased the Port of Tianjin's handling capacity. The Port of Tianjin built 300-thousand ton crude oil terminals, and add specialized ore terminals and a second coal terminal. It also expanded the grocery terminal and finished work on the international cruise terminal by 2010. The goal was to achieve capacity for 400 million tons of cargo and handling capacity for containers to 10 million TEUs.

According to World Port Source, the priority projects for the port included:


 * Construction of a second 300-thousand ton crude oil terminal in the southern border area that can accommodate 440-thousand ton tankers at a 484-meter long pier.


 * Construction of a specialized ore terminal with 440-meter-long berths that can accommodate 300-thousand-ton bulk carriers and can handle 23 million tons of cargo per year.


 * Completion of Phase 2 of the Shenhua Tianjin Coal Terminal to include 900 meters of quays with 100-thousand-, 70-thousand-, and 50-thousand-ton berths that can handle 35 million tons of coal per year.

Pollution

 * Haze: Like other regions in the North China Plain, Tianjin Port is prone to pollution haze. This haze can be a navigational problem when combined with foggy conditions.


 * Water: The waters of the Bohai Sea are some of the most heavily polluted in the world. Bohai Bay receives the discharges of the Yellow River and the Haihe, while the neighboring Liaodong Bay receives the Liaohe. In essence, the sea is the drainage ditch of all of the North China Plain and part of the Northeast (Manchuria) industrial areas. Combined with the shallowness of the waters and the relatively poor exchange into the Yellow Sea (it can take 40 to 200 years for complete water turnaround ), it results in alarming concentrations of pollutants. The polluted area of Bohai Sea extended to 13,810 km2 (18 percent of the total area) in 2009, despite repeated attempts to control pollution by regulating discharge into the rivers of the Haihe basin.


 * Biological pollution: Red tides have become progressively more common in the last decade. Invasive species transference due to ballast water is another major concern: the Bohai Sea was ranked as one of the must at-risk areas in the world by the International Maritime Organization ballast water project.

Port Layout and Facilities
The port is divided into five main port areas: Beijiang, Nanjiang, Haihe, Dongjiang, Beitang. Directly across the estuary of the Haihe River, just south of the Nanjiang Port Area, the still under construction Tianjin Lingang Industrial Area also has a number of wharves and berths. This area is planned to become the Dagukou Port Area once completed.

Beijiang Port Area
The Beijiang Port Area includes the original areas of the Tanggu New Port, plus new facilities built on reclaimed land. It covers approximately 36.8km2, has 18.9km of coastline, and contains mostly container and general cargo terminals. It is also the main service and administration area of the port, including the Container Logistics Center, the Tianjin Port Trade and Shipping Service Area, and the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone.

Nanjiang Port Area
The Nanjiang Port Area lies on an artificial island 16km long (east to west) for 1.3–2km wide (north to south), with an area of approximately 26km2. Shoreline is 14.2km long on the north side (opening to the Main Channel), and 12km on the south side (opening to the Dagusha Channel). This port area contains the bulk cargo terminals, in particular the various oil and coal terminals, as well as ore, liquid bulk, dry bulk, etc.

Dongjiang Port Area
Dongjiang Port Area lies on an artificial peninsula 10km long and 3km wide to the northeast of the main basin, and has an approximate area of 33km2. This is the newest part of the Port, and is still in development. It includes a new container terminal, a regional logistics center, and has a 10sq km bonded port area.

The Dongjiang Port Area is being developed into a comprehensive complex with three parallel zones: the terminal area; a logistic processing zone associated with the bonded port area; and a comprehensive service zone which will include office space, residential space, and leisure facilities.

The leisure area will be centered on the cruiser terminal and yachting piers, and around an artificial beach (the Dongjiang Bay Scenic Area)

Haihe Port Area
The Haihe Port Area operates all riverine docks from the Xingang Shipping Lock up to the Haihe Second Tidal Barrier, a distance of 39.5 km. Once the core of the Tanggu port, the lower Haihe river area has seen diminishing number of wharves as riverfront real estate is reassigned for development. In 2003, the Haihe Port Area had 7,100m of quayside, 83 berths, 56 production berths dealing with all sorts of cargo including containers. The start of the work on the new Tanggu CBD meant the demolition of most facilities in the Xiangguowan, Yujiapu and Lanjingdao peninsulas, including the large Third Stevedoring Company terminal in Gongzhuangzi, which closed in 2009.

Nevertheless, industrial expansion further up the river will likely lead to some recovery in the number of available berths. There are plans for expansion, however, with the development of new industrial areas further upriver. Current plans call for six different production areas, with an area of 9.7km2, a quayside length of 21km, and a total of 70 berths of 5,000-3,000DWT capacity, for a total throughput of 2,42 million tons.

Beitang Port Area
The Beitang Port Area at present only contains a very small (2.4ha) barge wharf on the estuary of the New Yongding River with minimal capabilities. However, this port area is expected to be expanded to serve the development of the Binhai Tourism Area. There are two wharves planned, 230m and 150m in length, to serve general cargo and passenger ships. The Beitang Fishing Harbor is directly north in the mouth of the river.

Dagukou Port Area
The 'Tianjin Lingang Harbor Industrial Zone, directly across the mouth of the Haihe River, south of the Nanjiang Port Area has fast-growing port capabilities, and it will become the sixth port area when completed the Dagukou Port Area, with an expected capacity of 100 Mt per year. At present. The Lingang Area hosts the Shipbuilding cluster, including the large Shipbuilding base currently going online in stages.

Shipping Channel and Fairway
The Tianjin Xingang Fairway is divided into the Main Shipping Channel, the Chuanzhadong Channel, the Northern Branch Channel and the Dagusha Channel. The Haihe river fairway is treated separatedly.

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