The Yangtze River Administration under the Ministry of Transport says that the suspension of the No.1 shiplock of the Gezhouba dam is causing severe queues upstream of the Three Gorges and downstream of Gezhouba.

There are three shiplocks in the Gezhouba dam, located only 38km from the Three Gorges dam, which has five shiplocks. In Yichang port alone, the number of vessels waiting to pass the locks has exceeded 200 every single day since 10 August when the maintenance project started, making it difficult to maintain safe shipping and for vessels to find suitable anchorage areas.

In a related development, the Yangtze Maritime Safety Authorities announced a series of measures on 19 August, temporarily stopping the issuance of single passing permits between the two dams to avoid exacerbating the logjam. For the time being, vessel owners have to apply for separate permits to pass through each shiplock.