Hebei government held a news conference on Dec 13 in Shijiazhuang, the Hebei provincial capital, to release the province’s maritime management statistics this year.

By the end of November, Hebei maritime safety administration (MSA) had provided security monitoring services to 296,600 ships and guaranteed the safe transportation of 634 million tons of cargo. This is an increase of 18 percent over the same period last year. The strategic materials such as coal, petroleum and ironstone has accounted for 93 percent.

Li Qingping, director general of the MSA, said the handling capacity of four harbors under jurisdiction has witnessed a huge growth, each exceeded 100 million tons. Among them, the Caofeidian harbor tops the nation on its increase in the handling capacity.

The administration also approved 116 harbor engineering projects, including 21 new wharfs, one water channel and one channel expansion.

The accident rate decreased significantly without the occurrence of severe water traffic accidents and pollution incidents. The administration successfully saved 385 people’s lives this year in 42 emergency search and rescue operations by dispatching 198 ships and four helicopters.