Hong Kong has overtaken Rotterdam as the...

Hong Kong has overtaken Rotterdam as the world’s busiest container port, according to Marine Department director Gerry Higginson. He said the port recorded a 24.63% increase in container traffic in 1987, while officials in Rotterdam anticipated no increase for their port.

Higginson said container traffic last year reached 3.46 million 20-feet equivalent units (TEUs), compared with 2.77 million in 1986. TEUs are the units by which container trade is calculated worldwide. About 2.8 million TEUs were handled by Rotterdam last year.

Higginson said Hong Kong’s facilities were being stretched to the limit. “Hong Kong’s container terminals are working 15% to 16% over capacity, he said. Some ships had had to wait up to 90 hours to unload, an unusually long time in the rapid world of containerized transport.