(Enorth.com.cn)It’s learned from the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) that scanning and measurement of the two deep water sea-lanes that are specially made for ultra-large ships in the water area of Bohai has been finished. The experts are making a scheme for it to be opened for navigation. Then, the ultra-large ships will have their special “freeway” for entering and exiting here, and the navigation will be safer and quicker.

It’s said that in recent years, since the throughput of the ports in Bohai area keeps on increasing, the numbers of ships loaded with oil and ore for import and export get a big increase, and ultra-large ships become popular day by day. Just take Tianjin as a example, in 2006, there are 651 ultra-large ships with width of more than 40m taking here as a turnover.

In early last year, the Tianjin MSA started the scanning and measurement work for the two sea-lanes for ultra-large ships in the Bohai area. They are the Laotieshan Channel to the Tianjin Xingang and the Laotieshan Channel to the Immortals’ Island of Yingkou. Now, the related department has mastered the basic status of the two lanes, and their next step is to consider the conditions of tide, sea breeze and management of fishing ships comprehensively to integrate the opening scheme of the two lanes.

News links

There is no clear classification standard for the ultra-large ships. There are different explanations for them in each special water area. For example, in the Yangtze River area, the “ultra-large ship” means sea gauge is above 9.7m or the length of the ship is more than 205m, while in the Tianjin Port, ship with width of more than 40m will be considered as the “ultra-large ship”.