Recently, the direct vessel “Hua Hang Han Ya 1,” carrying goods such as auto parts and lithium batteries, set sail from Wuhan Yangluo Port to Busan, South Korea. This voyage is part of the “Nagoya-Wuhan-Busan” triangular route service.
“The advantage of direct shipping is too obvious.” On November 13, Liu Zhanxu from Sinotrans & CSC Hubei Ship Services Agency Co., Ltd. explained that previously, goods needed to be transshipped via Shanghai, involving processes like unloading containers, waiting for vessel schedules, and reloading, which typically took 5 to 7 days. Now, with direct shipping services to Japan and South Korea available from Yangluo Port, the overall transport time is halved compared to the traditional model.
Currently, Yangluo Port handles an average of 3 to 4 direct vessel arrivals and departures per week. The continuous enrichment of direct shipping routes has effectively driven sustained growth in freight volume.
Previously, a batch of containerized energy storage cabinets from Chuneng New Energy Company were shipped from Yangluo Port via the vessel “Yuan Da Xian Feng” and exported to Honduras in Central America via Taicang Port. This shipment utilized the innovative integrated “Land-to-Water” transport solution for energy storage cabinets launched by Yangluo Port, meaning the products are directly loaded onto ships at Yangluo Port after being transported overland. Compared to the original route—transporting products overland to coastal ports for export—the freight cost per container was reduced by over ten thousand yuan, the shipping time was shortened by 2 days, and logistics costs decreased by 30%.
Since the opening of the first direct shipping route in 2019, Yangluo Port has continuously expanded channels for river-sea direct transport, short-sea direct shipping, and international sea-rail intermodal transport, adding an average of one new direct route per year. It has now formed a route network covering countries including Japan, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Among these, the Wuhan Yangluo Port – Indonesia Labota Port route is the first dedicated liner service jointly established by the Han-Asia direct shipping service and GEM Co., Ltd. In recent years, economic and trade exchanges between Wuhan and Indonesia have become increasingly close, particularly with strong demand for importing nickel resources from Indonesia. Nickel is a key raw material for power battery cathodes. China’s proven reserves account for only 2.45% of the global total, while Indonesia’s reserves reach 55 million tons, representing 42% of the global total.
GEM invested in building a factory on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, to achieve local smelting of raw ore and reduce costs. However, raw material transportation once became a development bottleneck. Previously, the company’s nickel wet smelting intermediates needed to be shipped first to Guangzhou Huangpu Port or Jiangsu Lianyungang Port, then transported overland to Hubei. Customs declaration and inspection in different locations resulted in long transport cycles and high costs.
After the opening of the Yangluo Port – Labota Port direct route, GEM’s products achieved “one-ship direct” transport between Wuhan and Indonesia, with a sailing time of about 11.5 days. This saves 7 to 10 days compared to the previous model of transshipping via ports in other provinces and reduces logistics costs by 10% to 20%.
Efficient customs clearance is a crucial support for ensuring the smooth operation of direct shipping routes. Wuhan Xingang Customs has set up a dedicated window for direct shipping, achieving “zero delay” in customs clearance for direct vessels through measures like pre-document review and priority inspection. It utilizes an intelligent telecommunication quarantine model, enabling immediate inspection upon vessel arrival. Joint inspections conducted with border control, maritime safety, and other departments have reduced inspection time by over 30%.
It is reported that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Yangluo Port’s container throughput achieved an average annual growth rate of over 10%, and its transshipment volume saw an average annual growth rate of over 20%, ranking it among the top domestic inland river ports. Currently, Yangluo Port has increased its shipping routes to 32 and also possesses over 40 multimodal transport channels. In the first three quarters of this year, Yangluo Port’s container throughput reached 1.861 million TEUs, and the cumulative number of entry and exit vessels increased by 60.47% year-on-year, both steadily ranking first in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
