We continue our review of the world’s largest oil ports: China’s river harbors
Giant on the delta
The name Suzhou, associated with the mountain peak Sushan (Jiangsu Province), appeared on the map back in 589. At the same time, the port, which was then called Taicang, began its work even earlier – in the 3rd century AD. From the 10th century, from the time of the Song Empire, the city became an important center for the production of silk, and remains so to this day (in China, Suzhou is called the “homeland of silk”).
Today, the city is home to 13 million people (12th in China in terms of population). Folk crafts are developed here (embroidery, fan making, wood carving), agriculture (rice, wheat, cotton, citrus fruits, green tea, rapeseed and other oilseeds, fish and crab fishing, pig breeding and sheep breeding), as well as high-tech industries — IT, precision engineering, biochemistry and pharmaceuticals.
The port of Suzhou with the adjacent industrial zone has existed in its modern form for 30 years. The harbor consists of three port areas – Zhangjiagang, Changshu, Taicang – and 7 dock basins – Baiyangvan, Lumen, Chenwan, Fengmen, Kimen, Fenkyao, Shuanqyao – located along the Yangtze River Delta, on the banks of the river itself, its channels and the Grand Canal. The total length of 224 berths is about 140 km. The main cargoes are iron ore, steel, coal, building materials (sand, cement), oil, oil products, liquefied gas, chemical products, containers, general cargo, timber, paper, fertilizers, agricultural products (cotton, grain, tapioca). The harbor provides more than 400 international and domestic scheduled cargo routes. The port’s cargo turnover is 570 million tons per year; over the past 10 years, it has been the largest river port in the world and 7th in the overall ranking of ports.
Both shallow and deep
Taizhou is an average city by Chinese standards – its population is “only” 7 million people (25th in the country).
Taizhou Port is the southernmost port in the Yangtze Delta; located at the mouth of the Jiaojiang River. The harbor includes 6 port areas. Haimen is a central shallow water area specializing in the transportation of general cargo and passengers. Damaiu has a depth of 11–13 m, sufficient to handle ships with a deadweight of up to 50 thousand tons; There are 14 berths in the area, including an LNG transshipment terminal. Jiangtiao (Nyushan-Yangshi) with a water depth of 10 m has 10 berths; a large nuclear power plant is being built in the area. Linghai (Tumen) is in a drained area; the water depth is 9 m, there are 47 deep-water berths in the harbor. Wenling (Longmen) has 38 berths, including specialized oil berths. There are large shipyards here. Huangyang has a water depth of 3 to 8 m; there are 5 specialized berths for bulk and chemical cargoes, as well as about a dozen shipyards. The cargo turnover of the harbor is 350 million tons per year.
ancient harbor
Jiangyin, located in the province of Jiangsu, was an important port in ancient times – in 1145, by decision of the central authorities, maritime trade supervision was established here. After the founding of the Ming Empire, a special guard was created in the port to monitor ships sailing along the Yangtze. Currently, 1.5 million people live in the city, which is quite small for China (accordingly, Jiangyin is included in the second hundred of Chinese cities).
Jiangyin Port occupies a vast 35-kilometer strip along the southern bank of the Yangtze. The harbor has 7 deep-water berths (water depth – 15 m), capable of receiving ships with a deadweight of up to 100 thousand tons. The port’s cargo turnover is 350 million tons per year.
Shanghai suburb
The name Nantong appeared on a geographical map in 1724, when the Jiangsu provincial authorities renamed the Tongzhou region Nantong (“southern Tong”) to avoid confusion with another Tongzhou located near Beijing. At the beginning of the 20th century, Nantong became a modern industrial and cultural center. In 1984, the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone was established. In fact, the city is a northern suburb of Shanghai and is part of the Yangtze Delta economic region. The population of Nantong is 8 million people (20th place in China).
Nantong Harbor consists of 4 port areas – Chongchuan, Haimen, Qidong and Rudong (the last of them houses an LNG terminal that receives gas carriers from Russia, Indonesia and Australia). It should be noted that the Yongqing-Shanghai gas pipeline runs through the territory of Nantong, including along the bottom of the Yangtze. On the territory of the port there are large shipyards and factories for the production of marine equipment. Despite the presence of three road bridges, numerous cargo and passenger ferries continue to operate on the Yangtze, connecting Nantong with Shanghai and Suzhou, located on the other side of the river. The cargo turnover of Nantong is 300 million tons per year.
South Capital
The date of Nanjing’s founding is not known with certainty. According to one version, Fuchai, the ruler of the kingdom of Wu, in 495 BC. founded Fort Yecheng in the area of present-day Nanjing. The settlement changed its name several times, in particular, it was called Jiankang, which in the middle of the 14th century was the center of an uprising against the Mongol Yuan Empire. The rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed a new Ming empire here in 1368 and became its first emperor; at the same time, the city was renamed Jingshi (“capital city”), and a huge Xiaoling mausoleum was built for the monarch himself. In 1403, at the local shipyard Longjiang (“Dragon River”), the construction of large ships for long-distance sea expeditions to the Indian Ocean began.
In 1421, the third Ming emperor moved the capital to the newly rebuilt Beijing (Beijing – “northern capital)”; Jiankang was named Nanjing (Nanjing – “southern capital”). Until the end of the Ming era, Nanjing officially remained the “auxiliary capital” of the empire.
In 1842 the city was captured by Great Britain; in connection with the end of the First Opium War, the historic Treaty of Nanjing was signed in the city. In 1853-1864, Nanjing was the center of the Taiping rebellion, which demolished many valuable historical monuments for religious reasons. Sun Yat-sen, the “father of the nation,” chose Nanjing as his capital; here is his mausoleum.
In 1927–1937 and 1946–1949, the government of the Republic of China was located in Nanjing. In December 1937, Nanjing was captured by the Japanese, who killed up to 300,000 citizens, which became Japan’s biggest war crime during World War II. In 1940, a puppet government was set up in Nanking to govern the parts of China occupied by the Japanese.
Today, the city is home to 10 million people (17th in terms of population in China).
Nanjing Harbor, which includes 8 port areas – Xiaguang, Shanyuanmen, Pukou-1, Pukou-2, Xinshenwei, Sisia, Ishen, Lontan – is located on the banks of the Yangtze and the Qinhuai River flowing into it. The harbor can accommodate 50 ships at the same time. Port facilities include more than 100 stationary and 350 mobile cranes, covered warehouses with a total area of 300 thousand square meters. m and open cargo areas with an area of 700 thousand square meters. The berths moor ships with a length of up to 284 m, a draft of up to 11.5 m and a deadweight of up to 85,000 tons. Thanks to outrigger moorings, the harbor accepts tankers with a deadweight of up to 100,000 tons. Shipbuilding and ship repair plants can produce ships with a carrying capacity of up to 30,000 tons. The main cargoes are oil, oil products, rolled metal products, ore, timber, grain and leguminous crops, coal, general cargo, containers, building materials, consumer goods, pharmaceutical products, fertilizers, and salt. The annual cargo turnover is 280 million tons.
Grigory Volchek
