East China's Suzhou expands water freight transport to Shanghai amid epidemic

NANJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Taicang Port in the city of Suzhou, which is about 50 km away from Shanghai, has boosted the number of voyages to Shanghai Port since March to help transport goods to and from the megacity that is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Due to the slowdown of road transport caused by the COVID-19 outbreaks in Shanghai, a growing number of enterprises in Shanghai and Suzhou are transferring containers by water through a green channel promoted by the Taicang and Shanghai ports.

The switch from road to water transport helped goods efficiently arrive at and depart from Shanghai Port during the epidemic resurgence, Taicang Port authorities said.

Since March, Taicang Port has added seven ships and 150 voyages to and from Shanghai Port. It is also providing freight services around the clock to ensure commodities can be transferred from Taicang Port to Shanghai's ports within 48 hours, according to the Taicang Port Administrative Committee.

In this period, a total of 59,132 TEUs of containers have been transported via the waterway, an increase of 68 percent year on year.

Taicang Port now operates 30 near-sea shipping lines and 169 ocean-going shipping lines.