The fourth phase project of Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, the world's largest automated cargo terminal, started a trial operation on Sunday. It can operate while completely unmanned, according to media reports.
Shanghai Yangshan Port adopts automatic systems to manage the port and for the first time in China, the process of customs inspection and clearance can now be done automatically, CCTV news reported on Sunday.
With seven deep-sea berths, the terminal's targeted annual throughput for the next year is 4 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with that number expected to rise to 6.3 million TEUs in the future, the news report said.
The unmanned terminal can reduce labor costs by 70 percent, while productivity will increase by 30 percent, the report said. And as all the terminals are powered by electricity, the port will have zero emissions, the report noted.
