The Virginia Port Authority and China Shipping, one of the world’s largest container lines, have agreed to a new ten-year contract, which will guarantee that the line continues to call at Virginia’s ports
“Credit Zang Bing, the U.S. president for China Shipping, for his foresight in signing a long-term contract with the fastest growing port on the U.S. East Coast,” said Joe Dorto, general manager of Virginia International Terminals Inc., the Virginia Port Authority’s (VPA) operating company. “It is smart business because what this does is enable China Shipping to expand its services in the future without having to worry about capacity in Hampton Roads — they’ve locked it in.” In short, the contract says China Shipping will send a minimum of 30,000 containers a year through the port starting in 2006. Currently, China Shipping vessels call twice a week at Norfolk International Terminals, the largest of the three deep-water marine terminals owned by the VPA. Dorto said the contract gives China Shipping the flexibility to increase the number of port calls and containers it sends through the port.
In the shipping business, long-term contracts are not the norm, Dorto said. Contracts usually are three-to-five years in duration. “This is unique in the industry. It’s something we’ve started to emphasize because of the long-term guarantee it provides to the ship line,” Dorto said. “It is important to us as well because it means we’ve sewn up this piece of business for ten years, allowing us to spend more time on the core task of moving cargo — we will not have to go back and renegotiate this contract in two or three years.”
