Taiwan's Kaohsiung Harbour is on the verge of losing its position as the world's sixth busiest container port, news reports said. According to port director Hsieh Ming-Hui, Kaohsiung is likely to be overtaken by the ports of Rotterdam and Dubai by the end of 2007. Container throughput statistics for this year's first quarter saw Kaohsiung handle 4.59% more containers than in the same period last year, compared to the 10% growth of Rotterdam and the 23% growth of Dubai, said Hsieh. Analysts have blamed Taiwan's ban on direct sea links with China for the under-performance of Kaohsiung's container throughput growth. The Taiwanese government however says the ban cannot be dropped due to national security concerns.