Zhoushan Port delivers more than 1.58 million containers in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 21.91 percent. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Zhoushan Port in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, set a new container throughput record in the first 11 months of this year, local media reported on Dec 15.

In the Jan-Nov period, Zhoushan Port delivered more than 1.58 million containers, a year-on-year increase of 21.91 percent. Over 1.3 million of them were delivered at the Dapukou container wharf in the Jintang port area of Zhoushan Port, a year-on-year increase of 2.72 percent.

"The oil and gas industry is the main contributor to the increased container throughput at Zhoushan Port," said an employee at the Zhoushan shipping and port administration.

For example, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co Ltd sent 227,400 twenty-foot equivalent units loaded with plastic particles and other finished products in the  first 11 months of this year.

In the face of a weak economy, port companies have also taken measures to adjust their strategies and tap into more markets.

For example, Zhoushan Yongzhou Container Terminals Co has accelerated its integration into the Belt and Road Initiative by launching three more shipping routes to West Africa and Russia. The company currently has a total of 15 international routes.

An employee at Yongzhou said that from mid-August to the end of November, 17,874 containers were shipped from Russia, a year-on-year increase of 739.2 percent, and in October, the company received 171 ships carrying 160,000 containers, a year-on-year increase of 25.91 percent.

In order to take full advantage of Zhoushan Port's pivotal position in global sea transportation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the local shipping and port administration has rolled out policies to ensure that ships entering Zhoushan Port go through the proper examination procedures and that they have an adequate supply of fuel and crew members.