Maersk Line has said that on November 15, 2012 it became the first ever carrier to reach a throughput of one million twenty-foot equivalent units in the Port of Qingdao, North China in a single year.
The container line expects the full-year figure for 2012 to stand at 1.2 million TEU, which it said was around 37% more than the 873,000 TEU of 2011.
Growth since 1994 has been even more dramatic, with the box shipper moving just 10,000 TEU in that year.
"Maersk Line will continue to strengthen our position in North China by further optimising our network as well as providing best in class care for our customers so that our valued customers, Maersk Line and the Port of Qingdao will prosper for years to come," commented Tim Smith, Head of Maersk Line's North Asia Regin in a speech that marked the occasion.
Yang Ji Sheng, director of international trade from Aelous Tyre, one of Maersk Line's large customers shipping out of Qingdao, said they were "looking forward to the moment when Maersk Line exceeds two million TEU a year and [they] would very much like to be part of this success."
