Recently, at the anchorage of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, crew member Zhang Liang received a liquefied gas cylinder delivered by a "waterborne supermarket vessel"—a cargo boat registered with the transportation authorities to provide daily necessities and other goods to passing ships and their crews. The QR code on the cylinder glinted in the sunlight. "Now I can just scan the code to check the cylinder's safety inspection history. I don't have to worry anymore about explosions from corroded cylinders," he said.
From worry to peace of mind, the transformation is due to a series of reactions sparked by a case involving the transportation of hazardous chemicals handled by the public interest litigation department of the Gezhouba Procuratorate in Yichang City, Hubei Province. At the beginning of 2023, while handling a case concerning the unlicensed transportation of hazardous chemicals, Prosecutor Chen Zhi from the Gezhouba Procuratorate uncovered a significant hazard: over 30 modified "waterborne supermarket vessels" were navigating the anchorage areas daily (waters designated for ships to temporarily anchor for safe berthing, typhoon avoidance, awaiting inspection, pilotage, engaging in waterborne transshipment, and other operations). These vessels were delivering flammable and explosive liquefied gas cylinders to cargo ships waiting to pass through locks.
"The corroded cylinders were directly exposed to the sun on the deck, and some were even stacked together with oxygen tanks." Assistant Prosecutor Xiao Chang from the Gezhouba Procuratorate still remembers the shocking photos in the case files. What's worrying is that a large number of vessels transporting hazardous chemicals are gathered at the anchorage areas downstream of the Three Gorges Dam. If a fire or explosion were to occur, it would take at least an hour for a fireboat to arrive, leading to unimaginable consequences.
These "waterborne supermarket vessels," which lack the qualifications for transporting hazardous materials, were in a regulatory "vacuum." The "Regulations on the Administration of Domestic Waterway Transport" did not have clear provisions for this emerging industry. In March 2023, a special consultation meeting was held at the Gezhouba Procuratorate. Heads of multiple departments explained their predicament to the prosecutors: "It's not that we don't want to regulate, but there are no clear legal provisions authorizing us to do so!"
The Gezhouba Procuratorate did not stop there. On one hand, they invited gas safety experts and specially appointed assistant prosecutors to assess the safety risks. On the other hand, they initiated administrative public interest litigation investigations against multiple departments in Yiling District and Zigui County, promoting joint efforts among various departments for comprehensive rectification. As a result, they successfully investigated and handled 68 cases involving illegal gas cylinders, among others.
Following this, after multiple rounds of consultations with relevant departments, the Gezhouba Procuratorate facilitated the joint release of the "Notice on the Safety Management of Waterborne Delivery of Bottled Liquefied Gas" by multiple agencies in March of this year. Issued jointly by two municipal-level safety committees—those for comprehensive transportation safety production and for gas safety production—the notice establishes a three-dimensional "land-water-air" regulatory network. Key measures include: implementing "six unifications" for delivery vehicles—uniform identification, numbering, staff uniforms, containers, invoices, and digital platforms; establishing an electronic traceability system for gas cylinders to crack down on illegal refilling; setting up five smart distribution hubs along the river in Yidu, Zhijiang, Yiling, Zigui, and Xiaoting; retrofitting dedicated delivery vessels that must hold hazardous cargo certification to operate; and enabling the sharing of vessel positioning data between maritime authorities and the Yangtze River Police.
"In the past, there was a regulatory gap in the safe waterborne delivery of bottled liquefied gas. Now, with this notice, we have a clear direction for regulation," said Tai Junjie, Director of the Safety Supervision Department at the Yichang Transportation Bureau.
During a recent revisit, the prosecutors observed a new scene along the Yangtze River: three national-standard delivery ships have been put into operation, "black gas cylinders" have been dynamically eliminated, and the safety of gas usage for crew members waiting to pass through the locks has been secured.
