Yangtze River cargo throughput up 27% year-on-year
By chance, Huang Weihao has been running a Shanghai Port liner since 1997. The Yangtze River estuary is necessary path on his way.
"Before, the first thing to do when we came to the estuary of the Yangtze River was to anchor and wait for the high tide to come to enter the port". The most unforgettable thing about his previous voyages through the Yangtze River estuary in Huang Weihao's mind was waiting for the tide. He said that although the ship he was piloting at that time had a tonnage of only 30,000 tons, he still could not pass the estuary without the tide. Very often, he had to wait for 24 hours, together with scores of other ships, waiting for the tide to come so that they could go in together.
"It was difficult go in, and equally difficult to go out", said Huang Weihao. If the ship could not be loaded as scheduled, he would have to wait for the next tide, and the wait could last for hours or even a day. One day's detention would cause a loss of almost US$ 10,000 for his ship.
As the channel of the Yangtze River estuary deepens, the scene of scores of ships waiting together for the tide to come has become history. Now, Huang Weihao pilots a ship that can load up to 4200 containers, with a total tonnage of over 70,000 tons, more than double the size of his previous ship. The draught of this ship is 12.5 meters, and it can pass the Yangtze River estuary freely.
"Now, we call the Yangtze River estuary 'freeway on the water', thanks to the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary", said Huang Weihao with deep feeling.
Huang Weihao said that an increase of 1 meter in depth, or even 0.5 meter, would mean a significant change for ship operators. With an increase of 5 meters in depth, the navigation conditions in the Yangtze River estuary is vastly different now.
According to the Appraisal Report of the Deepwater Channel Regulation Project in the Yangtze River Estuary published by Chinese Academy of Engineering, without the deepwater channel regulation project, the depth of the channel can be maintained at only 7 meters by dredging, vessels of higher than 20,000 tons need to reduce loading or wait for the tide so as to pass, and some goods can only be transported to ports inside the Yangtze River estuary through other ports. With the completion of the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary, however, container liners of less than 4,000 standard containers or general & bulk cargos ships and oil tankers with a tonnage of less than 50,000 tons can pass freely in both directions 24 hours a day; containers liners of 5000 to 6000 standard containers, full-capacity general & bulk cargos ships of 100,000 tons, and reduced loaded general & bulk cargo ships of 200,000 tons can navigate through with the tide.
Statistics from Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration prove it. On March 14, 2010, the third phase of the deepwater channel project in Yangtze River estuary was completed. The 12.5-meter deep channel was open to test navigation for one year from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011. During the year, an average of 125.9 vessels passed the deepwater channel in Yangtze River estuary every day. Of these vessels, 56.6 had a draught of 9 meters, 28.6 had a draught of 10 meters, and 12.1 had a tonnage of over 50,000 tons. But in the time when the channel was only 7 meters deep, only an average of 12.4 vessels that had a draught of more than 9 meters were allowed to passed every day, and a mere 0.4 vessels with a draught of more than 10 meters were allowed ever day, and it was impossible for vessels of more than 50,000 tons to pass.
"With deeper channel and larger vessels the profit of shipping companies goes up all too naturally". Huang Weihao did the math for us. Take the 3rd and 4th generation container liners as an example. A centimeter of draught can load up to nearly 100 tons of goods. Therefore, an increase of 1 meter in depth of the channel allows an extra loading of 100,000 tons, equal to 500 containers. At the current price, the freight of a container from Shanghai Port to Hamburg Port is averaged at around US$ 1500. The profit is very handsome for loading 1000 more containers.
Besides increased profit for shipping companies, ports along the river also benefit greatly from the change. The shipping volume through the Yangtze River estuary increased from 220 million tons in 2000 to 910 million tons in 2010, an annual increase of 27 percent. The volume of incoming and outgoing freights of Shanghai Port increased from 200 million tons in 2000 to 650 million tons in 2010; the quantity of incoming and outgoing containers grew vastly from 5,612,000 standard containers in 2000 to 29.05 million standard containers in 2010 (70 percent of which were done in ports inside the Yangtze River estuary). The throughput capacity of freights continued to ranked first in the world, and the incoming and outgoing volume of containers surpassed Singapore for the first time to ranked first globally.
Ports along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu area witness similarly shocking development. "As of the end of last year, the throughput volume of ports along the river in Jiangsu Province had exceeded 1 billion tons, and 5 of the 8 ports along the river became 100-million-ton port", said Wang Changbao, deputy director of the Transport Department of Jiangsu Province and chief of the Ports Administration Bureau of Jiangsu province. Mr. Wang said that all these achievements were credited to the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary. The opening up of the 12.5 meters deep channel broke the bottleneck of the insufficient depth of the channel of the Yangtze River estuary.
"The deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary has significantly enhanced the functions of the ports along the Yangtze Rivers, especially those in the middle and lower reaches, and has optimized and improved the transport system of goods and materials coming into and going out of the Yangtze River", said Jiang Qian, former chief engineer of the Ministry of Transport, "Relying on the deepwater channel in the Yangtze River estuary, the Yangtze River can fully play its role as a golden waterway, serving as an main artery that fuels economic development along the river".
"Before, the first thing to do when we came to the estuary of the Yangtze River was to anchor and wait for the high tide to come to enter the port". The most unforgettable thing about his previous voyages through the Yangtze River estuary in Huang Weihao's mind was waiting for the tide. He said that although the ship he was piloting at that time had a tonnage of only 30,000 tons, he still could not pass the estuary without the tide. Very often, he had to wait for 24 hours, together with scores of other ships, waiting for the tide to come so that they could go in together.
"It was difficult go in, and equally difficult to go out", said Huang Weihao. If the ship could not be loaded as scheduled, he would have to wait for the next tide, and the wait could last for hours or even a day. One day's detention would cause a loss of almost US$ 10,000 for his ship.
As the channel of the Yangtze River estuary deepens, the scene of scores of ships waiting together for the tide to come has become history. Now, Huang Weihao pilots a ship that can load up to 4200 containers, with a total tonnage of over 70,000 tons, more than double the size of his previous ship. The draught of this ship is 12.5 meters, and it can pass the Yangtze River estuary freely.
"Now, we call the Yangtze River estuary 'freeway on the water', thanks to the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary", said Huang Weihao with deep feeling.
Huang Weihao said that an increase of 1 meter in depth, or even 0.5 meter, would mean a significant change for ship operators. With an increase of 5 meters in depth, the navigation conditions in the Yangtze River estuary is vastly different now.
According to the Appraisal Report of the Deepwater Channel Regulation Project in the Yangtze River Estuary published by Chinese Academy of Engineering, without the deepwater channel regulation project, the depth of the channel can be maintained at only 7 meters by dredging, vessels of higher than 20,000 tons need to reduce loading or wait for the tide so as to pass, and some goods can only be transported to ports inside the Yangtze River estuary through other ports. With the completion of the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary, however, container liners of less than 4,000 standard containers or general & bulk cargos ships and oil tankers with a tonnage of less than 50,000 tons can pass freely in both directions 24 hours a day; containers liners of 5000 to 6000 standard containers, full-capacity general & bulk cargos ships of 100,000 tons, and reduced loaded general & bulk cargo ships of 200,000 tons can navigate through with the tide.
Statistics from Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration prove it. On March 14, 2010, the third phase of the deepwater channel project in Yangtze River estuary was completed. The 12.5-meter deep channel was open to test navigation for one year from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011. During the year, an average of 125.9 vessels passed the deepwater channel in Yangtze River estuary every day. Of these vessels, 56.6 had a draught of 9 meters, 28.6 had a draught of 10 meters, and 12.1 had a tonnage of over 50,000 tons. But in the time when the channel was only 7 meters deep, only an average of 12.4 vessels that had a draught of more than 9 meters were allowed to passed every day, and a mere 0.4 vessels with a draught of more than 10 meters were allowed ever day, and it was impossible for vessels of more than 50,000 tons to pass.
"With deeper channel and larger vessels the profit of shipping companies goes up all too naturally". Huang Weihao did the math for us. Take the 3rd and 4th generation container liners as an example. A centimeter of draught can load up to nearly 100 tons of goods. Therefore, an increase of 1 meter in depth of the channel allows an extra loading of 100,000 tons, equal to 500 containers. At the current price, the freight of a container from Shanghai Port to Hamburg Port is averaged at around US$ 1500. The profit is very handsome for loading 1000 more containers.
Besides increased profit for shipping companies, ports along the river also benefit greatly from the change. The shipping volume through the Yangtze River estuary increased from 220 million tons in 2000 to 910 million tons in 2010, an annual increase of 27 percent. The volume of incoming and outgoing freights of Shanghai Port increased from 200 million tons in 2000 to 650 million tons in 2010; the quantity of incoming and outgoing containers grew vastly from 5,612,000 standard containers in 2000 to 29.05 million standard containers in 2010 (70 percent of which were done in ports inside the Yangtze River estuary). The throughput capacity of freights continued to ranked first in the world, and the incoming and outgoing volume of containers surpassed Singapore for the first time to ranked first globally.
Ports along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu area witness similarly shocking development. "As of the end of last year, the throughput volume of ports along the river in Jiangsu Province had exceeded 1 billion tons, and 5 of the 8 ports along the river became 100-million-ton port", said Wang Changbao, deputy director of the Transport Department of Jiangsu Province and chief of the Ports Administration Bureau of Jiangsu province. Mr. Wang said that all these achievements were credited to the deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary. The opening up of the 12.5 meters deep channel broke the bottleneck of the insufficient depth of the channel of the Yangtze River estuary.
"The deepwater channel regulation project in the Yangtze River estuary has significantly enhanced the functions of the ports along the Yangtze Rivers, especially those in the middle and lower reaches, and has optimized and improved the transport system of goods and materials coming into and going out of the Yangtze River", said Jiang Qian, former chief engineer of the Ministry of Transport, "Relying on the deepwater channel in the Yangtze River estuary, the Yangtze River can fully play its role as a golden waterway, serving as an main artery that fuels economic development along the river".