The Qingshan shipyard of China Changjiang Shipbuilding Industry in Wuhan has officially delivered its first 57,000 dwt bulk ship. The vessel, which will be exported to Greece later in March, is the largest ship ever built in central China.

The ship, designed by Shanghai Ship Research & Design Institute, is nearly 190 meters in length, 32 metres wide and 18 metres deep. Ships of this size would have been impossible to build in Wuhan until very recently as the draught of the Yangtze was insufficient. A huge dredging effort in different stretches of the river is changing the face of Yangtze traffic. Wuhan is located some 1,100km along the river from the mouth near Shanghai.