On 9 April, an ocean-going vessel carrying 5,000 tons of iron ore with a draught of 5.2 metres arrived safely in Wuhan port, the first time a loaded ocean-going vessel had ever reached Wuhan during that month, according to China Water Transport Newspaper. This is a direct result of a recently completed major dredging programme between Wuhan and Anqing, Anhui province, which allows the Yangtze Waterway Bureau to raise the official guaranteed water level from 4.5 metres to 5.5 metres.

The improved water level enables loaded 5,000 dwt ocean-going vessels to reach Wuhan from Shanghai one month ahead of the norm. In the past, such vessels could only reach Wuhan on tide during the flood season between May and October. This is particularly good news as the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze have been suffering from a severe drought over the past few months and most of vessels have had to lighten in Yichang and Wuhan.

In a separate development, a 100,000 dwt ocean vessel carrying 60,000 tons of iron ore from Ukraine has anchored safely in Jiangyin port. This is the largest ocean vessel that the port has ever received. The Panama-registered vessel had already lightened more than 30,000 tons at Ningbo port before sailing on to Jiangyin.