China News Service, Guangzhou, February 15 (Guo Jun, Luo Dongwen) According to the Pearl River Navigation Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Transport (referred to as "Pearl Navigation Bureau"): Since the Spring Festival this year, the waterway transportation on the Xijiang shipping trunk line has maintained a rapid growth trend, and the ship locks at various hubs on the trunk line have The operation is in good condition, and ships sailing through the locks are generally safe, smooth and orderly.
As of February 14 (20 days before the Spring Festival travel rush), the cargo throughput of the Changzhou hub ship lock, an important node on the Xijiang shipping trunk line, reached 6.1736 million tons, an increase of 90.68% and 72.43% respectively compared with the same period of the Spring Festival travel season in 2023 and 2019, setting a record high. .
The Cheung Chau hub ship lock is busy with cargo. Photo courtesy of Pearl River Navigation Administration
The Zhuhai Navigation Bureau closely follows the characteristics of "tight at both ends and loose in the middle" for ships passing through the locks on the Xijiang shipping trunk line during the Spring Festival in 2024. Taking the working mechanism of ensuring smooth navigation of the Xijiang shipping trunk line as a starting point, the Zhuhai Navigation Bureau pooled its efforts and actively took targeted measures to facilitate the smooth return of the majority of boat people. Good conditions have been created for celebrating the New Year in the countryside and efficient and smooth transportation of materials.
The Zhuhai Navigation Bureau dispatched a working group led by the bureau leader to the key hub ship locks of the Xijiang shipping trunk line and related key waterways to conduct Spring Festival transportation safety inspections, coordinate on-site to solve problems existing in navigation and ensuring smooth navigation, and supervise the guarantee and safety of Spring Festival waterway transportation services Production work.
The Zhuhai Navigation Bureau strengthened communication and coordination with the water conservancy and electric power department, and implemented two consecutive emergency water dispatches from January 20 to before the Spring Festival to ensure shipping water demand. The discharge flow of the Changzhou hub increased from about 1,600m³/s to about 2,700m³/s. A total of approximately 322 hours of navigation time have been added to the Cheung Chau First and Second Line Ship Locks, and nearly 100 more ships have passed through the Cheung Chau Ship Locks every day.
The Zhuhai Navigation Bureau, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Transportation jointly issued the "Coordination and Linkage Mechanism to Ensure the Traffic and Smoothness of Ships Waiting for Locks on the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line" to clarify the local transportation, port shipping, and maritime affairs in the case of delayed navigation of various types of ships. There are 14 specific measures for coordination and linkage in 8 aspects with the ship lock operation and other units.
In addition, the Zhuhai Navigation Bureau has given full play to the advantages of joint dispatching of cascade locks, continued to take innovative measures such as segmented anchoring and hierarchical dispatching to optimize ship lock dispatching, and guided ship lock operating units to improve the points management system for ships passing through the lock to improve the efficiency of ship lock operation. The number of ships dropped from nearly 600 in early February to 17 before the Spring Festival.
After the Spring Festival holiday, it is expected that as shipowners gradually return to work, coupled with factors such as less upstream water and insufficient ship lock capacity, the work of ensuring smooth navigation on the Xijiang shipping trunk line will still face considerable pressure. The Zhuhai Navigation Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the weather on the trunk line. , water conditions and changes in navigation conditions, strengthen situation analysis and consultation, and continue to take effective control measures such as segmented anchoring and graded dispatch to effectively ensure the efficient operation of ship locks and safe passage of ships during the Spring Festival Transport. (over)