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China's sea face severe ice threat

2010-01-10 12:32 BJT

Special Report: Snowy Northern Hemisphere |

 

The recent cold waves in Northern China have frozen parts of the Bohai and Huanghai seas.

The Ministry of Transport has called for tighter safety measures to prevent accidents, while ice-breaking ships are working to keep sea lanes open.

Satellite photos show the Bohai Sea and the northern regions of the Huanghai Sea are suffering their worst icy weather in three decades.

In Liaodong Bay, nearly 100 kilometers of surface water off shore has froze. Ice thickness in some areas has measured more than half a meter.

The icy conditions threaten ships' navigation, anchoring and operations at ports.

Ships are also having trouble reaching the eastern city of Tianjin, the country's third largest port.

Ice-breaking ships have been dispatched to keep sea lanes open. It takes three hours for this 420-ton tugboat to make a round trip from the Tianjin port to its anchoring point. The process will effectively keep the ten-meter sea lane open.

The Ministry of Transport urges maritime affairs departments at all levels to intensify monitoring on icy conditions, and improve contingency measures to cope with possible emergencies.

So far, 40 people have been saved from ships in danger from the ice.

Editor: Zhang Pengfei | Source: CCTV.com