Nearly 5,000 ships were stranded in the Huai’an section of the Beijing- Hangzhou Grand Canal in East China's Jiangsu Province due to the low rainfall in northern Jiangsu, lingering drought, and the peak water use for agricultural irrigation.
The falling water level of the canal has made it difficult for ships to pass through the waterway. By 10 am on July 11, over 200 fleets on the upstream and downstream including 3,946 cargo ships were stranded, stretching for tens of kilometers along the waterway. Some ships were stranded for about ten days. There were more than 12,000 people waiting to pass the canal too.
Guo Zhehao, director of the local canal regulation office, said efforts have been made to allow some ships that meet requirements to pass the canal in accordance to the change of water level. However, only about 300 ships could pass the section a day. Even water resumes to the usual level, it will take about at least one month for all ships stranded to pass the section, said Guo.
In order to help crews on the ships, Huai’an has provided them with daily life supplies, such as instant noodles and drinking water. Other measures were also taken to solve difficulties faced by people on the ships.
In last year, some 317 million tons of cargo were transported through the northern Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal, twice the shipping volume on Europe’s Rhine river. In the first half of the year, the section saw the shipping of 165 million tons of cargo. The navigation lock in Huai’an, 2 kilometers away from the intersection of the Grand Canal and Northern Jiangsu Irrigation Channel, is responsible for handling major transportation of energy, building materials and bulk goods through the waterway linked with Huaihe River and Li Canal.
