Xiamen International Container Terminals (XICT) marked a milestone in its history on 1st September 2000 when it handled a 6th generation container vessel.

The mega-size vessel, MV "SL Washington" measures 304 metres in length and 40 metres in breadth and has a capacity of 6,175 TEU - one of the largest in the world. It is Maersk Sealand's newest addition to its fleet for the AE2 service, a Europe service which was first launched at XICT in March 2000. MV "SL Washington" is the largest vessel ever handled at XICT and the largest ever called at Xiamen.

"The advantages of natural deep-water conditions, superb terminal facilities and professional terminal management have attracted many global shipping lines and consortium to select XICT as their service terminal in Xiamen. The arrival of MV "SL Washington" has definitely earmarked a record-breaking vessel operations and more importantly, benchmarked XICT as a strategic hub in the region as well as our commitment to service excellence," commented Mr. Patrick Lam, General Manager of XICT.

"The deployment of ever-larger container vessels to call at Xiamen has great significance. The surge in cargo volume brought about by the robust economy of Xiamen and its vicinity has ascertained that Xiamen cannot be omitted in the international container service routings," Mr. Alfred Leung, General Manager of Hutchison Delta Ports (HDP) further added, "The company mission of XICT is to offer world-class terminal facilities and customized services to our customers; and to develop Haicang Port as the gateway of Fujian to the world. We are all heading towards this direction."

Notes to Editors:

Xiamen International Container Terminals (XICT) coastal port is a joint venture between Hutchison Delta Ports (HDP) and Xiamen Haicang Ports Company. Situated at Haicang in the Xiamen Special Economic Zone in Fujian, it has been in operation since 1997 and is part of the HDP network, currently comprising three coastal and three river ports in South China.

XICT is a member of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), an independent port investor, developer and operator with operations in 18 ports in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Photo Caption:

Xiamen International Container Terminals (XICT) marked a milestone in its history on 1st September 2000 when it handled a 6th generation container vessel - 6,175-TEU MV "SL Washington"