China Port Expansion Approved

A joint venture between Hutchinson Port Holdings Group and Shenzhen Yantian Port Group will add six new container berths along a two-mile stretch at the South China port. The $1.2 billion contract was approved by the Chinese central government. The first berth should be open in the second half of 2006 and will be capable of handling vessels with a container capacity of 10,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).

The total project is expected to add 15 deep-water container berths.