Wuhan Port and Shipping Development Group’s 1,124TEU Han Hai 5 Hao, China’s largest and most efficient river ship, completed its maiden when it arrived at Shanghai’s Yangshan port, on 3 March.
Built by WUT Guangda Shipbuilding and delivered in January 2021 the vessel will operate on the Yangtze River, carrying aggregated cargoes from Wuhan’s Yangluo port, via Hunan and Hubei provinces to Shanghai and import cargoes back in a bi-weekly rotation.
Han Hai 5 Hao is the last of a series of five river-going ships commissioned by Wuhan Port and Shipping. With a length of 139.8m, a width of 26m and a height of 11.5m, the vessel is larger than the other four ships in the series, Han Hai 1 Hao, Han Hai 2 Hao, Han Hai 3 Hao and Han Hai 7 Hao, were built between 2018 and 2019.
Han Hai 5 Hao is different from the other four ships as it has low energy consumption, low environmental pollution, better manoeuvrability, and a smaller turning radius. The average daily fuel consumption per container is reduced by more than 23% compared with the older ships plying the same route, cutting the costs of container transportation by more than 30%.
Wuhan Port and Shipping’s deputy general manager, Hu Xiangjian, said that the Wuhan-Yangshan service would develop Wuhan as a hub port in the central region and help Hubei build an international and domestic supply and industrial chain.
From being the original epicentre of Covid-19 last year, Wuhan’s economy has made a remarkable recovery. In 2020, Yangluo port handled over 1.93 million TEU, up 14.4% from 2019, as China exported more surgical masks and other medical supplies.
Source : Container-News
