East China Sea navigation support center gets underway

The East China Sea Navigation Support Center got underway Friday to support navigation and other maritime activities in the southern Yellow Sea and East China Sea, the local maritime authority announced.

The support center is responsible for building and maintaining the infrastructure that guides ships in and out of China's eastern seaports, including lighthouses, maritime communication equipment and the maps of existing shipping lanes, according to a press release from the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration. It will serve the waters along Shanghai, as well as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

More than 1.2 billion ships navigate the shipping lanes of the Yangtze River estuary each year, making it the busiest region in China for maritime transportation, said Liu Jiahua, a press officer with the East China Sea Navigation Support Center. China owns more than half of the navigational aids in the region.

The support center's duties had been under the control of the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, Liu said. China's Ministry of Transportation took over those responsibilities and established the center during a reorganization of the maritime bureaucracy.

Under the auspices of the center government, the center will have access to more resources. "More professional personnel, more advanced facilities and greater funding will help the center better perform its duties," Liu told the Global Times.

The establishment of the East China Sea Navigation Support Center is part of China's efforts to upgrade its maritime navigation network with three new support centers this year.

The South China Sea Support Center was set up on November 26, Liu said. The government has not announced when the North China Sea Support Center will be established.