China News Service, Guangzhou, May 6 (Guo Jun, Hu Simin) According to the Pearl River Water Resources Administration of the Ministry of Transport (hereinafter referred to as “PRWRA”) on the 6th: During the 2026 “May Day” holiday (May 1 to 5), the navigation structures on the main line of the Xijiang River shipping route operated smoothly and orderly. Among them, the Changzhou Ship Lock handled a total of 2,216 vessels, with a cargo volume of 4.12 million tons passing through the lock, representing year-on-year increases of 57% and 51% respectively.
During the “May Day” holiday, heavy rainfall and severe convective weather occurred in the Xijiang River Basin. The PRWRA conducted scientific assessments, made advance deployments, implemented precise scheduling, and adopted comprehensive measures to fully alleviate the backlog of vessels waiting at the Changzhou Ship Lock, effectively ensuring the safety, smoothness, and order of navigation on the main line of the Xijiang River shipping route. As of 15:00 on May 5, the number of vessels waiting at the Changzhou Ship Lock had been reduced to 106, essentially clearing the backlog.
It is reported that during the “May Day” holiday, the PRWRA fully leveraged the coordination and linkage mechanism, working with local transportation, port and shipping, maritime, water conservancy, hydropower, and ship lock operation units to closely monitor the dynamics of rainfall and water conditions in the basin, analyze and assess the navigation situation, promptly adjust navigation control measures, scientifically optimize ship lock scheduling, strengthen anchorage order management and joint inspections, and supervise the implementation of measures for zonal anchorage and graded scheduling of waiting vessels, maintaining the smoothness and order of the passage.
At the same time, the PRWRA strictly implemented the 24-hour three-level duty system during the holiday period, supervised the ship lock operation units to strengthen scheduling management, and monitored the operation status of key ship locks on the main line of the Xijiang River shipping route daily, ensuring timely and accurate reporting of key information. In coordination with the Guangxi transportation authority, it coordinated and urged the construction units of the emergency repair and dredging project for the first and second lines of the Changzhou Ship Lock to optimize construction organization, strengthen navigation assurance during the construction period, and minimize the impact on ship lock navigation.
Next, the PRWRA will work with relevant units to continue deepening the results of the investigation, rectification, and inspection of major risks and hidden dangers in production safety on the main line of the Xijiang River shipping route during the flood season and summer, do a good job in preventing and responding to extreme weather, maintain stable navigation order, and ensure the safe and smooth flow of the Xijiang Golden Waterway. (End)
