On April 16, the Three Gorges Navigation Comprehensive Service Zone, the first of its kind integrating safety inspection, green shipping and warm service in the Yangtze River Basin, was put into operation in Shawan waters of Yichang. Its completion and operation not only have removed the potential safety hazards and solved the pollution caused by the berthing ships in the Three Gorges waters, but also have set a good example for the construction of more such zones on the Yangtze River main stream.

　　The construction of the zone is one of the 12 livelihood projects approved by the Ministry of Transport in 2019. It is made up of a security check station for ships passing the lock, a green navigation service station and a river-way integrated service station. The three stations can provide 30 services under 6 categories: navigation information, ship security check, anti-pollution emergency, green energy, ship anchoring and integrated services for the backlogged waiting ships at the Three Gorges Dam.

　　Security check is the core function of the zone and has turned from the past single cruise check mode into a combination mode of berthing check and cruise check. Meanwhile, the application of such new technologies as automatic detection for ships’ draught and automatic identification of crew identity has effectively improved the efficiency and quality of the 100% security check of the passing ships, and provided reliable guarantee for both the safe operation of the Three Gorges Project and the safety of the vessels crossing the sluice gate.

　　The Green Navigation Service Station is a leading demonstration model to promote a full coverage of shore power in the Yangtze River Basin through the application of green technologies such as photo voltaic power generation, wind power generation and shore power in the form of ship power chargers, shore power piles and T-boxes to supply electricity power to ships so as to greatly reduce the pollution of sulfide, oxycarbide, PM2.5 caused by ships using fuel oil for power generation.

　　The integrated service station is designed as crew home offering 12 free services including crew mobile classes, bookstore, health service, water transportation, haircut, policy consultation, information inquiry, sports fitness, computer network, etc., in addition to a supermarket and express delivery points.

　　According to the head of the Three Gorges Navigation Administration Bureau, it is preliminarily estimated that the service zone can serve 15,000 ships and 60,000 crew members each year, and provide a clean power supply of 6.8 million kilowatt-hours. (Reporter: Shen Aimin; Correspondent: Liu Min)