Yangtze River Maritime Safety Administration Measures to Ensure Water Traffic Safety in Key Periods

　　Currently, the Yangtze River mainline is entering a period of alternating water levels, with the overall navigation environment being complex and changeable. Coupled with the supervision during the latter half of the Spring Festival travel rush, maritime traffic safety supervision faces multiple pressures. To effectively carry out maritime traffic safety supervision and service assurance work, the Yangtze River Maritime Bureau focuses on core aspects such as the safety of passenger and hazardous cargo vessels, the transportation of key materials, and the assurance during ship lock maintenance periods, building a solid defense line for maritime traffic safety.

　　It is understood that recently, due to factors such as the Xiangjiaba dispatch, the inflow into the Three Gorges, and the discharge flow difference at Gezhouba, the water level of the Yangtze River mainline from Anhui to Sichuan shows a trend of "fluctuating rise in the natural upstream river section, gradual decline in the reservoir area, and fluctuating rise in the middle and lower reaches." In response to water level fluctuations and the frequent occurrence of strong winds and dense fog in spring, the Yangtze River Maritime Bureau has proactively assessed the situation, ensuring command and dispatch, quick response inspections, and conducting nighttime checks and trajectory playback of ships in key areas such as major docks and bridge areas within its jurisdiction, effectively preventing incidents such as ship grounding and reef collisions.

　　Focusing on passenger and hazardous cargo vessels as key targets, the Yangtze River Maritime Bureau fully utilizes intelligent management platforms and information systems like the "Yangtze Sky Eye" to implement 24-hour dynamic monitoring of passenger ships and hazardous cargo vessels, and conducts full-chain closed-loop control over the loading and unloading operations and anti-pollution measures of hazardous cargo vessels. Additionally, it strengthens aerial drone patrols and key stationing of maritime patrol boats, effectively enhancing comprehensive three-dimensional supervision. It continues to organize special rectification actions for prominent quality issues of inland passenger ships, with a total of 407 maritime law enforcement personnel dispatched, 114 ship inspections conducted, and 802 defects identified.

　　In terms of service assurance for key material vessels, the Yangtze River Maritime Bureau fully implements the "four priorities" (priority piloting, priority lock passage, priority anchoring, priority docking and undocking) measures, facilitating the "four direct" green channels. So far, it has safely guided 20,519 foreign and domestic vessels, with a cargo volume of over 23.1 million tons, including 4 international route vessels and 20,515 domestic route vessels, effectively ensuring the smooth and orderly transportation of key materials such as fuel oil, thermal coal, and grain.

　　It is noteworthy that starting from 8:00 on March 4, the Three Gorges South Line ship lock and the Gezhouba No. 2 ship lock will undergo planned maintenance shutdowns for 45 days and 40 days, respectively. In response, the Yangtze River Maritime Bureau has taken a series of targeted measures: First, utilizing the intelligent management platform to implement integrated scheduling of ships waiting for locks, achieving intelligent anchorage allocation and orderly relocation, and adjusting the temporary anchorage areas for ships waiting for locks from Chongqing to Yueyang. Second, the affiliated Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, and Yueyang Maritime Bureaus strengthen coordinated control, guiding ships waiting for locks to anchor according to rolling pre-planned zones. Third, optimizing service assurance by coordinating resources such as traffic boats and pollutant reception vessels to provide material supply, psychological counseling, and dispute mediation services, actively helping ships waiting for locks to alleviate difficulties.