Standardization of Cruise Ships on Three Gorges is Likely to be Carried Out

We learned from the Ships Standardization on Yangtze River Promoting Conference that Shipping Administration of Yangtze River is thinking about carry out the standardization of cruise ships concerning foreign affairs on Three Gorges Reservoir Area. The newly manufactured cruise ships concerning foreign affairs are commonly over length and over wide. They will bring unfavorable influence for the navigation safety of the reservoir area and affect the efficiency of the ships' getting through the Five-stage Ship Lock of Three Gorges Dam.

With the improvement of living standard, there is an increasing demand for leisure vacation tour both at home and abroad. There is a great space for the development of Yangtze Cruise. It is reported that the number of visitors of Yangtze Cruise increased 30 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. It is even hard to get a ticket of a luxury cruise ships concerning foreign affairs in high seasons. Several ship companies purchased or merged some of the travel companies concerning foreign affairs, weed out the old cruise ships and manufacture luxury cruise ships to make a rush for a bigger market share.

Cruise ships concerning foreign affairs are not under the administration of ship standardization of Three Gorges Reservoir Area since they are characterized by individuation and are limited in number. But the trend is very clear that the newly manufactured cruise ships concerning foreign affairs are maximization. Some of the cruise ships under manufacture even reach 149.96 meters long and 24 meters wide. The length and width of the cruise ships have surpass the maximum size of the standard ships. They are hard to match the size of other ships when they are getting through the Five-stage Ship Lock of Three Gorges Dam. They also could not adapt to the size and lifting capacity of the ship lift under construction.

The relevant official of Shipping Administration of Yangtze River said that prevention is much easier than control and treatment. The Shipping Administration of Yangtze River is planning to start the research of the size standard of the cruise ships concerning foreign affairs and make preparation for the carrying out of the standardization of cruise ships concerning foreign affairs on Three Gorges.