¡¡¡¡YICHANG, Hubei, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Water storage in the Three Gorges
reservoir area will help revive the declining shipping industry along the
Yangtze River, according to the chairman of China's largest private shipping
company.
¡¡¡¡Known as "golden waterway," the Yangtze, with a length of over 2,800 km, is
the main artery of China's water transport. The rivercarries almost 80 percent
of the total freshwater freight in the country.
¡¡¡¡However, ships of 10,000 tons can only navigate 1,143 km from the mouth of
the Yangtze in the east to Hankou Port in central China's Hubei Province.
¡¡¡¡The water in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is too shallow and the
upper reaches have many dangerous shoals. "Only the Three Gorges Project can
solve the problem," said Lu Guoji, chairman of Minsheng Shipping Co. Ltd..
¡¡¡¡"Water storage in the Three Gorges reservoir area will offer new
opportunities," said Lu.
¡¡¡¡The first water storage in the Three Gorges Project will be carried out
next June. By then the Three Gorges Project will be generating power and be open
to ships.
¡¡¡¡Once the dam is built, all the dangerous shoals in the area will be
submerged and Chuanjiang River, part of the Yangtze River in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, will be 40 percent deeper than its present water depth of 60
meters. The river will be twiceas wide and the flow velocity will decrease 50
percent from the present 1,000 cubic meters per second to 500 cubic meters per
second.
¡¡¡¡"By then ships of 10,000 tons will sail safely from Yichang (inthe middle
reaches) to Chongqing (in the upper reaches)," said Lu.
¡¡¡¡
¡¡¡¡Experts predict that by 2009 when the depth of the Three Gorgesreservoir
reaches 175 meters, the cost of shipping on the river will decrease by 35
percent, increasing the volume freight of the river fivefold.
¡¡¡¡The US-based automobile manufacturer, Ford, has chosen Chongqing, the
largest city along the upper reaches of the YangtzeRiver as its base to enter
China. Ford has decided to rely on the waterway as its main means of transport.
Many large companies in the area, including Changhong Group, and Wuliangye
Group, have turned to the waterway to transport their products.
¡¡¡¡The Yangtze Shipping Group plans to extend its shipping business to the sea
to meet the needs of the exporters along waterway. Enditem
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