The first super large new ship formation of the Yangtze River trunk line in the Year of the Horse set sail from Jiangsu

　　China News Service, Nanjing, March 5 (Reporter Zhu Xiaoying) The first ultra-large new ship fleet of the Year of the Horse on the Yangtze River mainline set sail from Jiangsu for a trial voyage on the 5th.

　　This fleet is composed of "New Yangzi 538" and "New Yangzi 539" under Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., with the entire fleet stretching 2 kilometers. On the same day, Jiangsu maritime authorities established an "air + water + smart" three-dimensional supervision network to escort the trial voyage fleet in a relay manner, deploying a total of 15 patrol boats, 40 law enforcement personnel, 6 tugboats, 2 guard boats, and 2 drones.

　　According to the introduction, the "New Yangzi 538" to be delivered to a British shipowner has a total length of 248.8 meters, a width of 44 meters, a depth of 21.5 meters, and a maximum height above the water surface of 40.05 meters. It is the world's first 114,000 deadweight ton wind-assisted propulsion dual-fuel tanker. During effective sail operation, this vessel can save 5% to 10% of fuel consumption daily. The "New Yangzi 539" to be delivered to a Norwegian shipowner has a total length of 228.4 meters, a width of 34.8 meters, a depth of 20.9 meters, and a maximum height above the water surface of 39 meters. It is a dual-purpose ship for caustic soda and bulk cargo mixed loading, and will be used in the global bulk commodity transportation field.

On March 5, the first ultra-large new ship fleet of the Year of the Horse on the Yangtze River mainline set sail from Jiangsu for a trial voyage. Yang Yuezhi Photo

　　Jiangsu is China's largest province in the shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment industry, with its shipbuilding completion volume, new order volume, and order backlog volume consistently ranking among the top in China. The export scale of ships and marine engineering from Jiangsu has long accounted for more than one-third of China's total. According to Nanjing Customs data, in 2025, Jiangsu Province exported various types of ships worth 142.75 billion yuan, ranking first in China with a year-on-year growth of 37%.

　　Currently, the global ship market is recovering well, and the shipbuilding industry has entered a prosperous phase, with Jiangsu ship enterprises holding relatively full order books. Statistics from relevant departments show that sufficient orders will meet the full production capacity of Jiangsu ship enterprises until after 2028, with some ship enterprises' new ship orders scheduled until 2029. (End)