Container Terminal 9: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Container Terminal 9 from Tsing Yi Peak.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Container Terminal 9 from Tsing Yi Peak, Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong]]

'''Container Terminal 9''' or '''CT9''' ({{zh|t=九號貨櫃碼頭}}) is the 9th [[container terminal]] in [[Hong Kong]]. It is located on [[Tsing Yi|Tsing Yi Island]], facing [[Rambler Channel]]. It is part of the [[Kwai Tsing Container Terminals]]. The total site area is 1.5 square kilometres and the terminal itself comprises an area 0.68 km² and as long as 1.9 kilometres. The rest of land is for [[logistics]] and storage. When the terminal was built the sea bed was [[Dredging|dredged]] (dug deeper) to accommodate the largest container vessels.

CT9 has 6 berths and a capacity of {{TEU|3 million|first=yes}}. The terminal was developed by 3 operators; [[Modern Terminals Limited|Modern Terminals Ltd.]] (MTL), [[Hongkong International Terminals|Hongkong International Terminals Ltd.]] (HIT), and [[Asia Container Terminals Limited]] (ACT). ACT got two [[Berth (moorings)|berth]]s from MTL for two berths in exchange for contribution in CT9. Currently, HIT has 2 berths in CT9 and MTL owns the remaining 4. The berths were to be completed by the year 2005.

==Facing opposition from PRC==

There was a long dispute over the building of CT9 between the [[People's Republic of China|PRC]] and the [[United Kingdom]] beginning in November 1992. [[Government of Hong Kong|Hong Kong Government]] purposely diversified the number of providers of port services awarding project through a directed tender and [[Sea-Land CorporationSeaLand|Sea-Land]] [[consortium]] got the project. However, [[People's Republic of China|PRC]] insisted the tender must be open and competitive bid. The PRC alleged the results were in favour of British interests. The British company [[Jardine Matheson]], a company with its listing and incorporation withdrawn from Hong Kong in the 1980s, participated in the consortium. The project was delayed until the [[Sino-British Joint Liaison Group|Joint Liaison Group]] meeting of the UK and PRC in September 1996. Jardine Matheson was willing to be withdrawn from the project in acquiring two existing berths.

After lengthy negotiation, the signing of the project was on 8 December 1998 and the terminal was opened on 22 July 2003.

The delay of project caused substantial losses in Hong Kong in 1990s. The over-congestion in [[Kwai Tsing Container PortTerminals|Kwai Chung Container Port]] caused cargo to be diverted to [[Shekou Industrial Zone|Shekou]] and [[Kaohsiung]] instead of Hong Kong.

==Concerns==

===Traffic===

The decision of building CT9 on Tsing Yi Island aroused much concern from local residents. In the 1990s, the traffic condition worsened. The residents worried that CT9 would bring too many [[Heavy Goods Vehicle]]s to overburden [[Tsing Yi South Bridge|Tsing Yi Bridge]] and [[Tsing Yi North Bridge]], worsening the condition. They hoped the government would build Container Terminals 10 and 11 in northern [[Lantau Island]] instead of CT9. With new highways, [[Route 8 (Hong Kong)|Route 9]] (now Route 8) and [[Route 3 (Hong Kong)|Route 3]], and the [[Duplicate Tsing Yi South Bridge|Duplicate Tsing Yi Bridge]] completed in late 1990s and early 2000s, some residents urged the government to complete the road infrastructure for CT9 before the completion of the berths. As recently as 2005 the pressure on the traffic became much lower.

===Environment===