The maiden voyage ceremony of Shantou-Taiwan direct liner sea route was held on Shantou international container wharf on January 18. It was sponsored by the People’s Government of Shantou and undertaken jointly by the Taiwan Affairs Office, Traffic Bureau, Port Bureau and Port Authority of the city, Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd., Shantou International Container Wharf Co., Ltd. and Shantou Tongcheng Shipping Co., Ltd. Present at the ceremony were more than 500 people, including Lin Fengzheng (Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang) and his wife, Huang Futian, (Deputy Executive Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Kuomintang) and his wife, Chen Boting (Board Chairman of Wanhai Shipping Co., Ltd.), Hu Hanxiang (President of Cross-straits Shipping Exchange Association), Wang Yuwen (Deputy Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of State Council), Chen Yingming (Director of Offices Service Bureau of Ministry of Transport), Chen Xianli (Supervisory Commissioner of Discipline Inspection Group of the Discipline Inspection Commission of CPC Central Committee in the Ministry of Transport), Li Jiansheng (Deputy Director of Taiwan Affairs Office, Ministry of Transport), Jiang Changfang (Deputy Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of Guangdong Province), Yang Wen (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangdong Provincial Maritime Bureau), relevant leaders of the Provincial Port Office, Provincial Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, and Port and Shipping Bureau of Provincial Department of Transport; Zhuang Rongde (Vice President of Guangdong Provincial Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Honorary President of Shantou Association of Taiwan Businessmen); Lan Lin Xingzi (President of Shantou Association of Taiwan Businessmen); leaders of Shantou, including Huang Zhiguang, Yu Yuncheng, Deng Darong, Wang Yun, Luo Yangpeng, Zheng Renhao, Xie Zesheng, Su Yaoguang and Zhou Zhensong; Commissioner Zang Yujiang and Deputy Commissioner Gao Jianjun of Shantou Customs; Deputy Secretary Lin Jianmin of the Discipline Inspection Committee of Shantou; leaders of districts, counties and departments of municipal government; leaders of central and provincial units in Shantou; guests of port and shipping circles from both sides of the Taiwan Straits and foreign countries.

The maiden voyage ceremony started formally at 4:00 p.m. It was hosted by Deputy Mayor Su Yaoguang. Chen Yingming, Director of Offices Service Bureau, Ministry of Transport, read a congratulatory letter on behalf of the Ministry. Those who made speeches at the ceremony including Chen Honghui (General Manager of Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd.), Yin Guoming (General Manager of Shantou International Container Wharf Company), Lan Lin Xingzi (President of Shantou Association of Taiwan Businessmen), and Deng Darong (Deputy Secretary of Shantou Party Committee). Jiang Deliang, Director of Shantou Maritime Bureau, issued the departure license for direct cross-straits sail to “Dong Yue” liner implementing the maiden voyage, while Yin Guoming, General Manager of Shantou International Container Wharf Company, gave souvenirs to the captain of the liner. Secretary of Shantou Party Committee Huang Zhiguang announced the opening of the sea route of Shantou-Taiwan direct maritime liners. Then, Lin Fengzheng (Vice Chairman of the Kuomintang), Hu Hanxiang (President of Cross-straits Shipping Exchange Association), Wang Yuwen (Deputy Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of State Council), Chen Yingming (Director of Offices Service Bureau of Ministry of Transport), Li Jiansheng (Deputy Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of Ministry of Transport), Secretary Huang Zhiguang and Deputy Secretary Deng Darong of Shantou Party Committee and Liang Shubo, President of Hutchinson China Port, jointly pushed the activation level to open the sea route. Instantly, in an intense festive atmosphere of beaten drums, flying fireworks and dancing lions, the container bridge crane started to work and load the last container of the sail onto the liner.

At 5:00 p.m., with long hoots, “Dong Yue” liner of Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd. raised anchor and slowly left Shantou international container wharf with container goods on board for a direct sail to Kaoshiung Port of Taiwan. This marked the formal opening of the South China/Taiwan weekly container direct route (STD) of Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd. Shantou has finally realized the long-expected direct cross-straits sail. The route has filled a gap in direct sailing from Guangdong to Taiwan in East Guangdong and even the whole province, thereby turning a new page in the direct cross-straits maritime transportation from Shantou Port.

As a commercial port with a long history, Shantou is a port city of Guangdong Province that is closest to Taiwan, only 180 nautical miles away from Kaohsiung. Departing from Shantou Port on its maiden voyage, “Dong Yue” liner will get to Kaohsiung Port in about 16 hours. The opening of the direct sea route will enable the goods bound to Taiwan from Shantou, East Guangdong, south Jiangxi and southwest Fujian to arrive at the other side of the Strait without having to go through a third place. This can greatly drive down transportation time and enhance transportation efficiency, thereby leading to reduced logistic cost of enterprises, increased demand for cargo transportation, more fluent fund flow and more optimized allocation of resources. The direct sailing between Shantou and Taiwan will also provide more cooperation opportunities for the enterprises in the two places. It will help Shantou undertake the industrial transfer from Taiwan, boost economic and trade exchanges, and enhance the efficiency and core competitiveness of the enterprises in the two places. The direct sailing will produce a positive effect in increasing the competitive force of the export enterprises in Shantou, expanding the structure of export products, enlarging the cargo volume of shipping enterprises, raising the position of Shantou Port in domestic port industry, promoting the construction of a shipping center in East Guangdong and turning Shantou into a logistic hub and “bridgehead” for the economic relations and trade between the two sides of the straits. In addition, it has far-reaching significance for optimizing the structure of Shantou-invested enterprises and promoting sustainable economic development.

It is learnt that Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd. is a large state-owned shipping enterprise of China and mainly engages in the container transportation on branch routes along the coast and Changjiang River of China and on international branch routes. Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd. will use S.S. “Dong Yue” and S.S. “Fu Chun”, with a capacity of 559 and 591 standard containers respectively, for the South China/Taiwan weekly direct sailing route. In the initial period, the ports of call are Shantou, Kaohsiung, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The spokesman of the company stated that, as a public carrier, Zhonglian Shipping Co., Ltd. will operate the sea route independently to serve the shipping merchants and consignors by providing stable, fast and punctual weekly sailing.

 Source: Shantou Daily,Jan 19, 2009

　　由汕头市人民政府主办，市台办、市交通局、市口岸局、市港口管理局、中联航运有限公司、汕头国际集装箱码头有限公司、汕头市通成船务有限公司共同承办的广东汕头—台湾海上直航班轮航线首航仪式 1月 18日 在汕头国际集装箱码头隆重举行。中国国民党副主席林丰正伉俪，中国国民党政策委员会副执行长黄福田伉俪，万海航运股份有限公司董事长陈柏廷，海峡两岸航运交流协会理事长胡汉湘、国台办副局长王育文、交通运输部机关服务局局长陈英明、中纪委驻交通运输部纪检组正局级监察专员陈宪利、交通运输部台办副主任李建生，广东省台湾事务办公室副主任蒋长芳、广东省海事局党组副书记杨文，省口岸办、省检验检疫局、省交通厅港航局有关领导，以及广东省外商协会副会长、汕头市台商协会荣誉会长庄荣德，汕头市台商协会会长蓝林幸子，市领导黄志光、于云臣、邓大荣、王芸、罗仰鹏、郑人豪、谢泽生、苏耀光、周镇松，汕头海关关长臧玉健、副关长高建军，市纪委副书记林健民，各区县政府、市直各部门领导，中央、省驻汕单位领导，两岸和中外港航界的嘉宾共500多人出席了首航仪式。
　　下午4时，首航仪式正式开始。首航仪式由副市长苏耀光主持,交通运输部机关服务局局长陈英明代表交通运输部宣读了贺信，中联航运有限公司总经理陈洪辉、汕头国际集装箱码头公司总经理尹国明、汕头市台商协会会长蓝林幸子、汕头市委副书记邓大荣在首航仪式上先后致辞，汕头海事局局长江德亮向执行首航任务的“东悦”轮颁发了两岸直通出港许可证，汕头国际集装箱码头公司总经理尹国明向“东悦”轮船长赠送纪念品。汕头市委书记黄志光宣布广东汕头—台湾海上直航班轮航线开通。随后,中国国民党副主席林丰正、海峡两岸航运交流协会理事长胡汉湘、国台办副局长王育文、交通运输部机关服务局局长陈英明、交通运输部台办副主任李建生、市委书记黄志光、市委副书记邓大荣、和记黄埔中国港口董事梁树波一起推动航线开通启动杆。顿时，百鼓齐鸣、礼花飞扬、金狮舞动，在浓浓的喜庆气氛中，集装箱桥吊同时启动，本航班最后一个集装箱被迅速吊装上船。
　　下午5时，随着汽笛的声声长鸣，中联航运旗下满载集装箱货物的“东悦”轮起锚，缓缓驶离汕头国际集装箱码头，直接驶往台湾高雄港。这标志着中联航运华南/台湾周班定期集装箱直航快线(STD)正式开通，汕头港终于实现了盼望已久的海峡两岸海上直航，它的开辟填补了粤东地区乃至整个广东对台海上直航的空白，从此开启了汕头港两岸海运直航的新篇章。
　　百载商埠的汕头是广东省距离台湾最近的港口城市，距高雄仅 180海里 。首航的“东悦”轮从汕头港启航，大约16小时后将抵达高雄港。开通直航航线后，将使汕头、粤东乃至贛南、闽西南地区的输台货物可以不经第三地直达对岸，可大幅度节约两岸货物的运输时间，提高运输效率，随之而来的是企业物流成本的下降和货运需求的提升，以及更加畅通的资金流动和更加优化的资源配置。汕台两岸直航同时为汕头和台湾企业提供了更多的合作机会，有利于汕头承接台湾产业转移和促进两地经贸交流与往来，有利于提高两地企业效率和核心竞争力。对提高汕头出口企业的竞争力，扩大出口产品结构和港口、航运企业货量规模，提升汕头港在国内港口行业的地位，推进粤东航运中心建设，把汕头建成海峡两岸物流枢纽、经贸“桥头堡”将产生积极作用，对优化汕头投资企业结构和促进经济可持续发展具有深远意义。
　　据了解，中联航运公司是中国大陆国有航运企业，主要从事国内沿海及长江集装箱内支线运输、内贸集装箱运输和国际集装箱支线运输等航运业务。中联航运公司在华南/台湾周班两岸直航航线的运营中将投入载箱量为559标准箱的“东悦轮”和载箱量为591标准箱的“福春轮”，初期挂港顺序依次为汕头、高雄、广州和深圳。该公司发言人表示，中联航运公司作为公共承运人将独立经营该航线，服务于广大航商和托运人并提供稳定、快捷、准时的周班服务。

来源:汕头日报 2009-1-19