China has launched the first full-route ship trials on the 134.2-km Pinglu Canal, a CNY 72.7bn ($10.8bn) waterway linking inland routes in Guangxi with the Beibu Gulf ahead of a planned September opening, according to China's Ministry of Transport.
Four vessels entered the programme on 12 August: loaded and empty 5,000-tonne ships, a loaded 3,000-tonne vessel and a loaded 1,000-tonne vessel, representing the main ship sizes expected to use the canal.
The trials cover the entire route, including the Shaping section, watershed section, Qinjiang River main channel, Qinzhou urban section and the outlet to the sea.
Ships are being put through the twin locks at Madao, Qishi and Qingnian and tested in meeting, overtaking, turning, tidal berthing and night-navigation manoeuvres.
The programme also covers six adverse operating conditions, including reservoir discharges, tributary flooding and combinations of strong winds and high tides, while 206 representative navigation aids are being checked.
Beigang Yunhe 002, the canal's first intelligent demonstration vessel, joined the trials carrying 5,000 tonnes of ore. BeiDou positioning, drones, mooring-force sensors and engine-monitoring equipment are being used to collect navigation and vessel data.
Testing at Qishi on 13 August involved loaded 3,000-tonne and 5,000-tonne vessels in the first live-vessel trial of its water-saving lock.
A Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute team led by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Hu Ya'an monitored water levels, flow patterns and vessel behaviour.
The programme follows an 7-8 August transit by the Guangxi Maritime Safety Administration's Chinese patrol vessel Hai Xun 1003, the first ship to complete an end-to-end passage after the canal's main engineering works were completed. It reached the Pingtang River entrance at 5pm on 8 August after passing all three locks.
Designed for ships of up to 5,000 tonnes, the canal will provide a direct river-to-sea route to the Beibu Gulf. Construction was more than 98% complete when the trials began.
The route is expected to shorten the waterborne journey to the sea for cargo from southwestern China by about 560 km compared with the route through Guangzhou Port and cut annual transport costs by more than CNY 5.2bn ($771m).
Pinglu Canal Group Co Ltd, established in Nanning in June 2022, is a wholly state-owned enterprise directly administered by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Its responsibilities include investment in, construction, maintenance and future operation of the canal, as well as development of the economic corridor along the route. Guangxi Pinglu Canal Construction Co is a unit of Pinglu Canal Group.