The Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) has rolled out a series of measures to further increase operation capacity to meet peak season demand during the upcoming National Day holiday in October, with strict anti-pandemic policies in place, sznews.com reported.

YICT’s handling capacity basically resumed to normal level in August. Nearly 280 large vessels berthed at the terminals last month, 2.6 times the number of those in June. The throughput has also grown from about 620,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in June, to over 1.05 million TEUs in July and 1.25 million TEUs in August, which signaled a steadily rising trend. YICT and the government are expected to make joint efforts to boost the terminal’s productivity by 10 percent this month, its highest level ever before the pandemic.

Due to sporadic COVID-19 infection cases in May, vessel berthing shortage and delays in the Yantian port area have caused a huge backlog of export laden containers and stacked up containers. Stacking time was three times more than before the pandemic. YICT has increased the number of trailers to 12,000 a day from 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. This number is 1.4 times higher than the 5,000 reported at the end of May. YICT is also planning to work with other entities in optimizing its system to improve services to foreign trade and logistics companies.

YICT has expanded its operational capacity by cooperating with small and medium-sized terminals in the Pearl River Delta, eastern and western Guangdong, with a frequent transportation of 15 barges. The “Huiyan Combo Port” operation, which combines Yantian and Huizhou container terminals’ management to share the former’s cargo traffic burden, has grown its weekly handling capacity up to 1,800 TEUs. Another operation, “Guanyan Combination Port,” is planned to be put into pilot operation soon.

The “Bay Area Sea and Train Pass” project initiated by Shenzhen customs recently has made the Yantian port’s operation more efficient. The project enables cargo owners to complete customs declarations and inspection procedures before railway transportation and improves handling procedures for boarding international vessels in the Yantian port.