Container ship CUL Hochiminh docks at the Dapukou container terminal in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. [Photo/Zhoushan Customs]

Singapore-flagged container ship CUL Hochiminh departed from the Dapukou container terminal in the Jintang port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on Oct 4, heading for its next destination in an important new route.

The trip marked the maiden voyage of the newly launched Red Sea route by operator China United Lines, during the National Day holiday, at the port’s Dapukou container terminal.

After handling 2,211 TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units – the standard container size – it set sail for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The Jintang port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port now boasts 42 international container routes connecting countries participating in the BRI. They link with over 60 ports in Africa, Russia, the Red Sea and other regions.

In the third quarter of the current year, the container terminals in the Jintang port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port handled a total container throughput of 659,000 TEUs – marking a 6.8 percent year-on-year increase.

To ensure smooth customs clearances for the new route, Zhoushan Customs and the Zhoushan entry-exit border inspection station collaborated to put together a customs clearance supervision plan.

They coordinated with terminal operators, ship agents and freight forwarders and implemented processing measures including scheduled clearances and pre-declarations.