On the afternoon of January 15, the Port of Nanjing welcomed the largest draft ship since the opening of the port - the "Alpha Discovery" ship, marking a solid step forward for the deep cultivation of the "big ship deep water" in the port of Nanjing.

    "Alpha Discovery" is a Liberian bulk carrier, 229 meters long, draft 11.6 meters, loaded 56,000 tons of grain from Brazil. The safe berthing of the "Alpha Discovery" created a new record for the draft of ships entering the port of Nanjing, which is a concrete measure for the Port of Nanjing to promote the construction of "big channel, big network and big hub" and create the "best outlet to the sea" in Nanjing metropolitan area, and an innovative practice to give full play to the advantages of the 12.5-meter deep water channel of the Yangtze River and enhance the level of Nanjing regional shipping logistics center. It is a successful exploration of accelerating the construction of a modern comprehensive transportation system and promoting Nanjing's construction as an international comprehensive transportation hub city.

    The Port of Nanjing is a major coastal port planned and constructed by the state and a Class A port open to the outside world. It is the deepest deep-water seaport in the hinterland and the main hub port of international river-sea transport, and an important gateway that radiates and drives the development of the Yangtze River basin and the central and western regions. In May 2018, the 12.5-meter deep water channel of the Yangtze River reached Nanjing for the first time, and the efficiency of the golden waterway of the Yangtze River continued to be released, but due to the hydrological conditions of the waterway and navigation safety considerations, the maximum draft of large ships entering and entering the port of Nanjing was controlled at 11.36 meters.

    To this end, Nanjing Maritime Safety Bureau, together with the Municipal Transportation Bureau, Commerce Bureau, Emergency Bureau, pilot station, Nanjing Port Group, Yangtze River Delta Shipping Development Research Institute and other units, fully promote the draft improvement of ships entering and exit Nanjing Port, carry out research projects, and complete the simulation test of the "Alpha Discovery" through the Yangtze River Jiangsu section of the three highly risky navigation sections of Simawan, Yulong Chau, and Yin Gongzhou. We will actively explore the gradual increase of the maximum draft of ships arriving at the port from 11.36 meters to 11.6 meters to 11.8 meters, accelerate the substantial access of the 12.5-meter deep water channel of the Yangtze River to Nanjing, and comprehensively enhance the radiation power and competitiveness of the Port of Nanjing as the main hub port of river-sea transport.

    At present, the draft of ships arriving at Jiangyin Port and Zhenjiang Port has reached 12 meters and 11.8 meters. The first 11.6-meter vessel in the Port of Nanjing is a stage test of whether the port of Nanjing can receive 11.8-meter draft vessels, which will lay a solid foundation for the subsequent promotion of the draft of vessels entering and leaving the port of Nanjing to 11.8 meters as soon as possible. It is estimated that the draft of inbound and outbound ships will be raised from 11.36 meters to 11.6 meters to 11.8 meters, and the seaway can load 3,000 to 5,000 tons of goods per voyage, which can save logistics costs for hinterland enterprises by 40 to 50 million yuan per year, and the port economic level and the foreign trade earning level of Nanjing will be significantly improved.

    In recent years, the Port of Nanjing has consciously implemented national strategies such as the development of a powerful transportation country, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Delta, resolutely seized major development opportunities such as the construction of the 12.5-meter deep water waterway on the Yangtze River and the completion of a special railway line in Nanjing Longtan Port Area, continued to promote the construction of "big channels, big networks and big hubs", and focused on the construction of a combined transport system of public iron, sea and river. Continuously adjust the functional layout, optimize the management structure, improve the service level, and effectively promote the construction of more distinctive "water transport Jiangsu" with high-quality development results.

    In 2023, Nanjing Port Group completed a cargo throughput of 113.5 million tons and a container throughput of 345 TEU, 2.70% and 7.8% respectively. Among them, the container multimodal transport volume was 156,800 TEU, an increase of 49.8%, and it remained the first inland port in the country for two consecutive years. It is worth mentioning that since 2016, Nanjing Port Group became the first port enterprise along the Yangtze River with a throughput of more than 100 million tons, and has achieved a cargo throughput of more than 100 million tons for eight consecutive years.

    It is understood that the Nanjing Maritime Safety Bureau and the Nanjing Transportation Bureau will accelerate the promotion of the maximum draft of ships in and out of the port of Nanjing to gradually increase to 11.8 meters, and the Nanjing Port Group will further integrate into the national strategy, seize development opportunities, fully release the "gold efficiency" and "green effect" of the deep water channel, and help create a more distinctive "water transport Jiangsu".