See how Yangluo Port can create the best "sea outlet" in the central and western regions, from a small fishing village to the first green port in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River | Yangluo Port | Haikou

Heading upstream into the river and sea, goods travel ashore at inland ports like Yangluo Port, and are transported by water and rail, heading west and directly to Central Asia and Europe. Opening up the map of world history and geography, a large open passage that crosses Europe and Asia by land will be revitalized a thousand years later. On June 16th, the major theme publicity and reporting team of "Advancing China's Yangtze River surges" visited Xinzhou, Wuhan, to see how Yangluo Port is pressuring and advancing, steadily improving its international port functions, and continuously making new progress in the construction of the shipping center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

The surging Yangtze River has taken a turn at Tianxingzhou in Wuhan. On the north bank of this turning point is Yangluo in Wuhan Xinzhou. The north of the water is Yang, relying on the water to receive the river. Soldiers must strive for it. In ancient times, there was a Zilu to inquire about Tianjin, but now there is a deep-water harbor. Over the years, Yangluo Port has been impacted by the river, with its banks flat and deep, making it one of the few natural harbors in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

In recent years, Yangluo Port has entered the "fast lane" of development and has produced impressive performance reports. In 2022, the annual container throughput of Yangluo Port exceeded 2 million TEUs, marking another milestone breakthrough for Yangluo Port after its container volume exceeded 1 million TEUs in 2014.

In the past, there was a small fishing village with overgrown weeds on the shore, and the surrounding villagers relied on fishing to make a living. Nowadays, in Yangluo Port, the long arms of the gantry crane dance, containers are neatly stacked, and trucks shuttle back and forth. Every day, goods gather here from all directions, drifting across the sea or being transported to the mainland.

Arriving at the remote control room of the central control building, the operator was sitting in front of the screen proficiently pushing the control lever. Hundreds of meters away, a 40 foot container was steadily lifted by a gantry crane and accurately placed at the designated location, with the entire process taking only half a minute. "In the past, operators had to climb up narrow iron ladders to a height of 20 meters and sit in an operating room of less than 3 square meters for a day. Now they only need to remotely monitor and perform opening and closing actions in the central control room. The improvement of the working environment and labor intensity can also effectively avoid safety risks caused by fatigue," the staff told reporters.

Remote control gantry crane is one of the epitomes of Yangluo Port's efforts to build a smart port. In 2022, "Building a Smart Port with Yangluo Port as the Core" was listed as a pilot project for Hubei Province, a transportation powerhouse. Not only that, Yangluo Port also comprehensively promotes the transformation of intelligent gates. The renovated gate can automatically recognize the truck and container numbers, achieving 24-hour unmanned operation, and reducing the average vehicle passing time from 160 seconds to 30 seconds.

Yangluo Port is still a green and low-carbon port. Step out of the central control building and arrive at the nearby power exchange station. The reporter saw that a container electric truck slowly entered the battery swapping station and stopped steadily. After the system automatically recognized it, it issued a battery swapping command. I saw the robotic arm slowly sliding out of the track and extending towards the electric truck, grabbing a battery box weighing about 2 tons. After a brief operation, it was returned to the charging room and placed in the charging slot. Next, the robotic arm grabs a fully charged battery box and exits the charging room again, placing it into the battery compartment of the collection truck. The entire process takes about 5 minutes. On the wall of the monitoring room, several large screens are monitoring the real-time management of the charging and swapping station, as well as the operation status of vehicles and batteries.

In October 2022, Hubei Port Group Company signed a development cooperation framework agreement with State Grid Hubei Electric Power to jointly promote port electrification, vehicle and ship electrification, rooftop photovoltaic construction, and jointly build a green ecological dock. This year, the electric truck charging and swapping station has been completed.

At the scene, the reporter saw that this brand new charging and swapping power station is located next to the Yangluo Port Phase II project department, near the Yangluo Port Phase I project. It looks like a small bungalow and covers an area of 180 square meters, with 8 charging piles inside. It is understood that a "charging room" like this can accommodate 8 batteries to be charged simultaneously, ensuring the operation of 50 trucks 24/7 and replacing approximately 4.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually. Every year, it saves about 1.8 million liters of diesel for the Yangluo Port container terminal, reduces carbon emissions by 4700 tons, and achieves zero pollution and zero emissions in container transportation in the port area.

The relevant person in charge stated that the completion and operation of the container truck charging and swapping power station will help Yangluo Port build a "zero carbon dock" green ecological port demonstration project, and form replicable and promotable experiences for more ports in the country to achieve green and low-carbon transformation.

Xinhua Daily · Intersection Reporter Zhang Jieru