In the early morning of the Yichang section of the Yangtze River, the mist has not yet dissipated, and a deep blue ten thousand ton giant ship quietly docks at the dock. With the successful issuance of the final statutory operating certificate, the pure battery powered distribution ship named Gezhouba has officially been delivered and put into operation. As the first pure electric bulk carrier in the global inland shipping industry to enter the 10000 ton class, its emergence not only fills the industry gap, but also provides a visible and tangible benchmark for the green transformation of the Yangtze River's golden waterway.

Ten thousand ton giant ship bids farewell to fuel

This giant ship, carefully built by Yichang Ziyuan Huaxing Shipyard, has a total length of 129.98 meters, a width of 22 meters, a depth of 7.7 meters, a designed draft of 6.5 meters, and a maximum cargo capacity of 13700 tons. In the past, almost all inland ten thousand ton cargo ships relied on diesel propulsion, and black smoke was the norm. Nowadays, the Gezhouba has completely bid farewell to traditional fuel and is equipped with 12 sets of lithium battery box power supplies, with a total power capacity of 24000 kWh, equivalent to the total battery capacity of hundreds of household electric vehicles. Such a huge energy storage scale has truly enabled this ten thousand ton giant ship to achieve zero emissions and pollution-free navigation.

Replacing the battery takes ten minutes and has a range of 500 kilometers

For a long time, slow energy replenishment and short endurance have been the two major challenges restricting the development of inland electric ships. The innovation of Gezhouba adopts a ship electric separation and fast energy replenishment architecture, compressing the battery swapping process to only 10 minutes. When fully charged, the cruising range can reach 500 kilometers, fully compatible with mainstream freight routes on the Yangtze River. This breakthrough means that ships can quickly replenish energy like refueling by stopping at power stations along the way, completely overcoming industry pain points. According to calculations, after the ship is put into operation, it can replace about 617.5 tons of fuel annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2052 tons, with significant environmental benefits.

Intelligent driving control enables autonomous navigation

In addition to green power, the Gezhouba is a truly intelligent ship. It is the first 10000 ton cargo ship in the inland river to be equipped with an intelligent driving control system, integrating five core functions: intelligent energy efficiency management, intelligent engine room monitoring, intelligent integration platform, intelligent navigation control, and remote control. Relying on 4G, 5G, Beidou and satellite multi link networks, integrating 5G high-speed communication and Beidou precise positioning technology, the ship has advanced intelligent operation capabilities such as remote control navigation, automatic berthing and departure, and autonomous avoidance navigation. This marks that China's pure battery powered transport ships have entered a new stage of green and intelligent dual drive from a single green power source, and their overall technological level has entered the global leading ranks.

This 10000 ton pure electric bulk carrier is about to set sail from the Three Gorges Reservoir area to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It is not only a vivid footnote to the green development of Yangtze River shipping, but also contributes China's solution to the zero carbon transformation of inland ships worldwide.Editor/Yang Meiling