2026-05-06
Source: Electric Ship Era
On March 30, the first vessel built by Land-Sea Equipment Company, a subsidiary of Anhui Port & Shipping Group, was successfully launched from Zongyang Shipyard. The smooth launching of this LNG multi-purpose vessel marks a historic "zero to one" leap for Anhui Port & Shipping Group in ship manufacturing, and signals that port-shipping cooperation between Anhui and Shandong provinces has entered a tangible output phase.
The vessel features a modern design with a straight cargo hold, twin stern lines, aft engine room, and aft exhaust layout, powered by a twin-engine, twin-propeller propulsion system that balances speed and maneuverability. The wheelhouse and living quarters are centrally arranged at the bow, with a design that prioritizes crew comfort and safety for both work and daily life. The ship is certified to navigate in inland river A and B class navigation zones. The main deck, upper deck, and canopy deck can all serve as vehicle-carrying areas, flexibly accommodating container and bulk cargo loading/unloading as well as roll-on/roll-off operations. The vessel is primarily intended for service on the Yangtze River's golden route.
The Yangtze River mainline is currently accelerating its green shipping transformation. According to data from the Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs, Ministry of Transport, 202 new energy ships were already in operation on the Yangtze mainline by the end of 2025 — double the previous year's figure. The Yangtze mainline has now become a global demonstration zone for large-scale application of new energy vessels on inland rivers. As of the end of 2025, more than 476 new energy vessels were under construction on the Yangtze mainline, of which 417 (87.6%) are LNG-powered. The construction of this LNG multi-purpose vessel is a concrete step forward in the broader trend of green inland navigation on the Yangtze.
The newly launched vessel was built at Zongyang Shipyard, part of Anhui Port & Shipping Land-Sea Equipment Co., Ltd. The shipyard project is a joint venture between Anhui Port & Shipping Group and Shandong Port Group, with a total investment of 670 million yuan, and officially broke ground on February 28, 2025.
The site was originally home to Oriental Shipbuilding Company, which fell on hard times shortly after commencing operations and remained idle for years. In 2024, Anhui Port & Shipping Group partnered with Shandong Port Group to initiate asset restructuring, introducing intelligent manufacturing technology for new energy vessels and revitalizing the site — which includes 350,000 square meters of land and Yangtze riverfront resources. The project officially went into production on June 25, 2025, taking just four months from groundbreaking to commissioning — a rare construction speed in the industry. To date, Anhui Port & Shipping Land-Sea Equipment Company has secured over 20 shipbuilding orders, with a total deadweight tonnage of more than 260,000 tonnes on its order book.
On June 25, 2025 — the very day Zongyang Shipyard officially went into production — two vessels broke ground simultaneously: a self-propelled deck barge and an LNG multi-purpose ship. The vessel launched this time is precisely that LNG multi-purpose vessel. Looking ahead, Zongyang Shipyard will focus on new-energy vessel R&D, high-end equipment manufacturing, and port-logistics synergy, with a special push to break through in clean-energy technologies like electric and hydrogen-fueled ships. The target? Exceed 1.5 billion yuan in annual output value within three years.
The green transformation of Yangtze River inland shipping is now entering a phase of intensive policy rollout. The Yangtze River Maritime Safety Administration has issued seven new regulations, including the Guidelines for Construction Inspection and Supervision of New Energy (Natural Gas Fuel) Vessels, filling institutional gaps in the sector. Meanwhile, a "green channel" has been opened for new-energy vessels, offering streamlined services from registration and launching to sea trials — plus priority lockage, priority anchoring, and direct berthing access in and out of ports. On the infrastructure front, a multi-type, convenient refueling network has taken shape along the Yangtze. At the Zigui LNG bunkering station, refueling volume exceeded 1,500 metric tons in the first quarter of 2026 — a staggering 307% jump from the same period last year.
In March of this year, Hubei Province launched the "Thousand Sails Plan" for green transformation of inland vessels, aiming to demonstrate and drive the construction, retrofitting, and replacement of 1,000 new-energy ships across the province by 2030. Provinces along the Yangtze are rolling out policies one after another to seize the rapidly expanding market for new-energy shipbuilding.
The successful launch of Anhui Port & Shipping's first self-built vessel marks the group's official entry into the shipbuilding arena. As Zongyang Shipyard gradually ramps up its production capacity, Anhui Port & Shipping is poised to claim a much stronger position in the Yangtze's inland shipping market — right at the heart of the green, smart ship revolution.
