China News Service, Nanning, September 10 (Reporter Huang Yanmei) The Pinglu Canal, the backbone project of the New Land-Sea Corridor in Western China, will be completed and opened to navigation on September 16. The day before it is opened to navigation, this 134.2-kilometer golden waterway will officially have its own exclusive "traffic regulations."
The "Pinglu Canal Navigation Safety Management Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration will be officially implemented on September 15. On September 10, the Information Office of the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region held a special press conference on "Interpretation of Important Policy Documents" to interpret the "Regulations".
The Pinglu Canal is built according to the standard of Class I inland waterways and can be navigable for 5,000-ton ships. It is the first canal connecting the river and the sea that has been coordinated and constructed at the national level since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The "Regulations" use a number of institutional innovations to establish exclusive navigation rules for this new waterway.
Special regulations for a canal
Why have separate regulations for a canal? Wang Ribin, deputy director and spokesperson of the Guangxi Maritime Safety Administration, said that the Pinglu Canal's dual attributes of "inland water + sea area" cannot find a completely matching management basis in the existing legal system - there are no clear answers in the past about jurisdictional ownership, application of regulations, determination of accident liability, etc. Inland river vessels and sea-going vessels intersect and operate in the same water area, so a unified and clear set of navigation rules is urgently needed.
Wang Ribin said that the particularity of the Pinglu Canal is that it "connects the river to the sea" - whether inland river ships can enter the sea and whether sea-going ships can enter the river needs to be clarified here; for inland rivers, "upgoing ships travel along the slow current or one side of the channel, and downgoing ships travel along the mainstream or in the middle of the channel", while at sea, "each sails on the right". There is no unified statement on how the two sets of rules are connected. The "Regulations" specifically make detailed institutional arrangements for the navigation environment, risk characteristics and transportation needs of the Pinglu Canal. It is a complete set of exclusive navigation rules established outside the framework of general law.
The promulgation of the "Regulations" has filled the gaps in the system, providing management with evidence and navigation with rules to follow.
Solving the problem of connecting inland river and maritime avoidance rules
Inland navigation and sea navigation have their own prevailing rules, and the logic of the two sets of rules is very different. How to allow inland river vessels and sea-going vessels to "go their own way without interfering with each other" in the same canal is one of the key technical issues to be solved in the "Regulations".
It is reported that the basic principle of inland river traffic is "against the current and give way to the downstream" - the upstream boat avoids the downstream boat, because the downstream boat pushes the boat with the current and is more difficult to maneuver. The basic principle of maritime traffic is "each sail to the right" - when two ships encounter each other, they each turn to the right and meet the ship on the port side. There is no problem if the two sets of rules are used alone, but when placed in the Pinglu Canal, a channel where an inland river meets the sea, the risk of a "fight" between the rules increases significantly.
The "Regulations" resolve this contradiction through a three-tier system design. First, the G75 Lanhai Expressway Qinjiang Bridge is used as the boundary to clarify the applicable boundary of the law. Inland water regulations apply to the inland waters on the north side, and maritime regulations apply to the sea areas on the south side. Second, using the "equivalent to Class A" navigation area as a conversion channel, inland river ships that meet the standards can legally enter the sea area, and sea-going ships entering the river must meet the main scale requirements. Third, the traffic separation system is uniformly implemented in the entire canal area - separate upstream and downstream traffic lanes are set up, and all ships sail to the right and meet ships on the port side; at the same time, the upstream (reservoir area) of the Youth Hub makes it clear that upstream ships should avoid downstream ships, and downstream (tide-sensitive river sections) countercurrent ships should avoid downstream ships, integrating the two sets of avoidance logic into one set of rules.
Wang Ribin said that the three-layer design is interlocking, making the two legal systems of inland water and maritime "fit and feasible" in the same canal. When entering the Pinglu Canal, both inland river vessels and sea-going vessels must sail according to the same set of rules, with consistent judgment and reduced collision risks. This is one of the core legislative considerations of the "Regulations".
Set a sufficient headroom height of 2 meters
There are a large number of cross-river bridges along the Pinglu Canal. The 27 cross-river bridges along the entire line carry a large number of vehicles and pedestrians every day. The risk of ship collisions is a major safety hazard for canal navigation. The "Regulations" set up clear technical defense lines for this purpose.
According to Jiang Yu, director of the Navigation Management Department of the Guangxi Maritime Safety Administration, when a ship passes a bridge, a sufficient clearance height of more than 2 meters must be reserved between the maximum height above the water surface and the navigation clearance height of the bridge. This value is based on the requirement of "2 meters in inland waters or protected sea areas that are accessible to ships" in the "Navigation Standards for Sea-Vine Channels" and is determined based on the actual navigation conditions of the Pinglu Canal.
Why do we need these 2 meters? The height of a ship above the water is not fixed - the water level rises and falls with tides and flow, the ship rises and falls due to waves during navigation, and different loads will also cause draft changes. If there is not enough space, sudden rises in water levels or rolling ships may hit the bottom of the bridge. The ample headroom of 2 meters is the "overhead safety zone" reserved for these emergencies.
At the same time, the "Regulations" require ships to self-check the maximum height above the water before sailing, and confirm that they meet the bridge crossing conditions before entering the canal; they must report developments to the maritime department through VHF channel 13 to ensure that each ship crossing the bridge is within control.
Using data to draw red lines for no-sail operations in bad weather
The Pinglu Canal is located on the coast of South China, where severe weather such as typhoons, heavy rains, and fog occurs frequently. Some sections of the canal are located at the junction of rivers and seas, and wind and wave conditions are far more complex than those in purely inland waters. In order to ensure the safety of ship navigation, the "Regulations" draw clear red lines based on scientifically proven data.
According to Jiang Yu, the specific criteria for prohibiting navigation are: wave height greater than 2 meters, flow speed greater than 2 meters per second, wind power reaching level 7 or above, and visibility less than 1,000 meters. If one of them is met, the maritime administration agency can take measures to prohibit navigation and prohibit inland waterway ships from sailing and operating in equivalent A-level navigation areas.
In addition, when there are eight types of situations such as abnormal water levels, discharge flow from the Youth Hub exceeding 800 cubic meters per second, and channel obstruction, the maritime department can also take traffic control measures such as restricted navigation, one-way navigation, and ban on navigation.
The "Regulations" provide crew members with the clearest safety instructions using digitized hard indicators. Jiang Yu said, "You must stop when you reach this line." The crew members know what situations they must not leave, so they will not take risks. This is the rigidity and temperature of the system: rigidity lies in clear standards, and temperature protects lives.
Set up a "nighttime silent zone"
The "Regulations" clarify that in the waters from the Youth Hub to the G75 Lanhai Expressway Qinjiang Bridge, ships are prohibited from sounding their horns from 22:00 to 6:00 the next day, except in emergency situations. This "night silent zone" setting is rare in similar inland river traffic management.
According to Wang Ribin, there are residential areas scattered along the Pinglu Canal, and there are permanent residents near the ship locks and around the port. Ships must sound their horns when entering or exiting locks and passing bridges. This is a navigation safety measure stipulated in the "Inland River Collision Avoidance Regulations". Honking during the day is acceptable, but frequent honking at night causes serious disruption to the sleep and life of residents on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. To this end, the "Regulations" make a balance after sufficient argumentation: delimit the period during which sound is prohibited at night, and stipulate that exceptions will be made in special circumstances such as emergency evacuation - safety always comes first.
How to ensure navigation safety after the sound is banned at night? The "Regulations" require ships to strengthen lookouts when sailing at night and make full use of radar, automatic ship identification systems, searchlights and other equipment to observe the surrounding environment. During the day, a long sound is played before turning, and at night, a searchlight is used to shine upward to attract the attention of other ships. Through the full use of technical means, we can ensure navigation safety while minimizing disruption to residents along the route.
Wang Ribin said that this clause reflects the legislative philosophy of the "Regulations", which not only considers shipping efficiency and navigation safety, but also fully takes into account the protection of people's lives along the route. The canal is a national strategic project and the home of the people along the coast. “Both ends must be taken into consideration.”
"Project of the Century" opens to tourist ships
The scenery along the Pinglu Canal is beautiful. The three hub locks themselves are magnificent artificial landscapes. There are also rich natural and cultural resources on both sides. Tourists take a boat from the Xijiang River to the Pinglu Canal, pass through the three hubs of Ma Dao, Qishi and Qingnian, and go all the way south to the Beibu Gulf. Along the way, they can witness the magnificent scene of "the intersection of the river and the sea", which is a very unique tourism experience.
The Pinglu Canal is not only a major freight channel, but also a tourist route with great potential. The reporter learned from the press conference that after the Pinglu Canal is opened to navigation, tourist ships can enter the canal. At present, the locks have sufficient passing capacity and the locks are generally smooth.
Wang Ribin said that the Pinglu Canal not only undertakes the mission of transporting goods from southwest China to the sea, but also provides the public with a water sightseeing route to appreciate the style of the "project of the century". "The canal has been repaired and it is meant to be used by everyone. Whether it is transporting goods or traveling, we welcome everyone to come." (End)
