Wuhan city government announced on 1 June eight measures aimed at making the Wuhan-Yangshan shuttle service more reliable for shippers. The measures include higher government subsidies for barge operators running such services, priority for customs clearance and cargo inspection, and priority for container trucks on the three ring roads.

Subsidies for barge operators have been raised from Rmb50,000 per call to Rmb60,000, plus an extra bonus of Rmb20,000 for those vessels reaching Yangshan within 48 hours. Government subsidies will also be available for major shippers to encourage them to use the service.

Wuhan Mayor Tang Liangzhi said that the Wuhan-Yangshan shuttle service ‘has to be reliable and regular, whether fully loaded or not’. He said barge operators would have to bid for the right to run this service.

The shuttle service was started in May 2006, but has been cancelled three times due to the heavy losses sustained by barge operators in running the service. In February 2009 the service was re-opened with a special government support fund, providing barge operators with a subsidy of Rmb50,000 per call. But the service remains unreliable. High-technology equipment manufacturers Foxconn and TPV, the two largest shippers using the service, both complain about its unreliability. TPV reports an average of 20 per cent of its containers each year being unable to get onto the scheduled ocean-going vessel in Shanghai due to the delays in the shuttle service.