Joerg Wuttke
"About 48% of the world’s 5,400 operational container ships passed through the Taiwan Strait in the first seven months of this year, providing a steady supply of clothing, appliances, mobile phones and semiconductors. If only the largest 10th of the fleet is considered, the waterway accounts for 88% of traffic, with many of those vessels servicing transcontinental routes to Europe. While ships can divert around the eastern coast of Taiwan through the Philippine Sea, which would add only a few extra days to the journey, alternative routes pose difficulties. The Luzon Strait between the Philippines and Taiwan offers a possible north-south path, but the typhoon season in South China Sea makes it risky to travel.
'…The Taiwan Strait is a key shipping route, with almost half of the global container fleet and 88% of the world's largest ships by tonnage passing through it. While access to Taiwanese ports is not dependent on passage through the strait, entry to ports in Hong Kong and northern China often is.'"
Guest User