Ningbo Maritime Authorities Fully Safeguard the "Lifeline" of Ships

"This rope is severely worn and must be replaced immediately!" On the morning of August 9, at the Ningbo Yongxin Sand Terminal, maritime law enforcement officers guided berthed vessels to replace new ropes to strengthen mooring stability.

The rope is the lifeline of a ship—it securely moors the vessel to the dock and serves as the first line of defense against wind and waves, preventing drifting. Under the combined effects of strong typhoons and storm surges, water levels at docks in the Ningbo jurisdiction may rise rapidly in a short time, causing uneven stress on the ropes, which could lead to snapping or unmooring. To safeguard the safety baseline of 484 berthed storm-sheltering vessels in the jurisdiction, 28 party member and youth task forces from the Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration conducted inspections and reinforcements at frontline docks such as Yongjiang, Xiangshan Port, and Shipu Port. They inspected each vessel, focusing on whether the ropes were tightly secured, stress evenly distributed, and fender pads firmly tied, to strictly prevent secondary disasters such as drifting and collisions caused by snapped ropes or unmooring. "If one rope snaps, it could trigger a chain reaction of drifting. We must ensure every mooring rope is secure," said Ningbo maritime law enforcement officers.

While reinforcing mooring, preventing personnel from returning to vessels before the typhoon makes landfall is another core task. Relying on "electronic sentinels" composed of high-definition CCTV cameras, maritime authorities implemented 24-hour dynamic monitoring of key dock areas. Offline, task forces increased the frequency of coastal patrols, promptly persuading individuals attempting to take risks by returning to their vessels, firmly upholding the safety baseline of "ships in port, people ashore."

Meanwhile, at the Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration Command Center, the monitoring screens displayed dense ship signals. The 817 vessels sheltering from the storm in Ningbo waters were divided into 50 grids, with 45 sentinel ships marked with high-brightness icons in their respective areas. Real-time footage from 24 sentinel stations was displayed in rotation. Through the "grid-based + sentinel ship" mechanism, vessels within each grid could immediately alert and respond to anchor-dragging risks, establishing a collective prevention and control framework of "vessel autonomy, coordinated monitoring, and joint early warning."

In addition, the Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration invited experienced senior captains to assist with duty shifts, assessing the anchor chain stress and anchoring distances of vessels in the jurisdiction. Currently, 88 emergency tugboats have been deployed in the Ningbo jurisdiction, including 12 high-powered tugboats stationed in key waters such as Donghuoshan, Xiangshan Port, and Shipu Port, ready for emergency response and rescue operations at any time.

From the dock frontlines to monitoring screens, from a single rope to an entire vessel, every rope is a frontline position, and every screen is a sentinel post. Amid high winds and rough seas, the Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration is gritting its teeth and standing firm, determined to win this battle against the typhoon.