Green and Smart Shipping Route Opens Between Shanghai and Suzhou, with Electric Container Ships Traversing It
On the morning of December 2, the “Stable Voyage, Intelligent Reach, Ecosystem Win-Win” Conference of the 2024 Pudong Shipping Week, jointly organized by the People’s Government of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, and the Shanghai Transportation Commission, was successfully held at the Shanghai International Convention Center. The green and intelligent demonstration shipping route from Suzhou Port to Waigaoqiao Port was officially announced as open.
Zhang Xin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Transportation Commission, stated in his speech that in 2023, Shanghai Port handled 49.16 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) of container throughput, ranking first globally for the 14th consecutive year. Leveraging shipping service clusters such as Pudong, the top ten liner companies in the world, 10 official members of the International Association of Classification Societies, and numerous companies and institutions including the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have gathered in Shanghai.
At the opening ceremony, the green and intelligent demonstration shipping route from Suzhou Port to Waigaoqiao Port was officially declared open. To implement the national strategy for high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and adapt to the trends in shipping transformation and development, shipping, maritime, and port authorities from Shanghai and Suzhou, along with relevant market entities, have jointly promoted the development of the electric vessel industry. On this nearly 200-kilometer inland river route between Suzhou Port and Waigaoqiao Port, they have taken the lead in creating a green and intelligent demonstration shipping route. In the future, 120-TEU electric container vessels will ply this route, with each round trip expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 6.37 tons per vessel, resulting in annual emissions reductions exceeding 400 tons.
According to the Pudong New Area Shipping Office, from December 2 to December 7, one theme conference hosted by the government and 56 series of events independently planned by market entities in the shipping industry will be held in rotation. Building on the themes of high-end shipping services and green, intelligent shipping from the inaugural shipping week, the second shipping week has added new themed activities such as Greek National Day, Zhoushan Port Day, Oriental Hub, Low-altitude Economy, Logistics Supply Chain, Blockchain Applications, Shipping Large Models, and Logistics Robots, facilitating the integrated development of shipping with trade, finance, and technology.
