October 18, 2006 - TOKYO , Japan. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha , Ltd. ("K" Line) has been a long-time user of the Port of Yokohama as a gateway to the Tokyo Metropolitan area together with the Port of Tokyo in its worldwide containership business. "K" Line's container terminal operations in Yokohama can be traced back to 1969 when "K" Line first concluded a lease contract with the Port for its exclusive use of Honmoku A8 berth. Since then, Honmoku A8 berth has handled an impressive volume of containers imported and exported through the Port of Yokohama , with the current number of containers handled at the Port growing faster than expected.
In order to overcome and improve this capacity situation, "K" Line concluded an agreement with the Port of Yokohama earlier this year providing that its exclusive container terminal shall be moved to another berth in the Port, i.e. Honmoku A 5, 6 berth. This berth, which is scheduled to be operational around end of November or early December, will have expanded terminal facilities with berth length and yard acreage being almost 50 percent more than at the present time. "K" Line believes that this upgrade of the terminal will help the company successfully deal with the expected rapid cargo growth in global container trade, including but not limited to inter-Asia trade.
"K" Line is operating container terminals not only in Japan but also in USA and Europe, providing high-quality services to various shipping lines, including "K" Line, which call at its self-operated terminals.
| New Berth | Current Berth | |
| Berth Length | 400 m | 270 m |
| Depth along the berth | 12 m | 12 m |
| Total Area | 124 ,000 m2 | 83 ,000 m2 |
| Gantry Cranes | 13-row type x 3 | 13-row type x 2 |
| Handling Capacity | about 205,000TEU /year | about 151,000TEU /year |
| Reefer Receptacles | 276 units | 186 units |