The Yangtze River Administration under the Ministry of Transport has announced that the official guaranteed water level in the Yangtze trunk line between Nanjing and Wuhu has been raised by 1.5 metres as from midnight on 15 July. This means that the water level will reach 10.5 metres between June and September, allowing 30,000 dwt vessels to reach the waters of Anhui province. For the rest of the year, the level will rise from the previous 7.5 metres to 9 metres.

The decision is based on extensive research carried out on the river bed along the 101km stretch between Maanshan and Wuhu, two of Anhui’s five major Yangtze ports. The change will reportedly increase shipping capacity of the stretch by more than 30m tons by 2012. Trial operations will run for one year.

The guaranteed water level is a public commitment of the central government to maintain shipping conditions to a certain standard. An increment of one metre water depth will allow an additional load of 1,000 TEU to be carried on a typical vessel.