Tag Archives: Yangtze River

Victoria cancels Yangtze cruises over coronavirus concerns

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MVKatarina

Victoria Cruise Lines says it has cancelled six cruises on China’s Yangtze River due to concerns about the coronavirus.

“While operations have not been directly impacted by the situation in Wuhan — more than 500 miles away from the American-managed company’s Chongqing office — many passengers travel through transportation hubs which have been affected by proactive measures taken by the Chinese government, creating logistical difficulties,” the company said in a statement.

 

Additionally, the company said China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has asked the tour sector to temporarily suspend operations. In response, Victoria said, it has cancelled all sailings through Feb. 16, six offseason winter departures.

“Victoria Cruise Lines will monitor the situation in the interim and continue to prioritize the safety and enjoyment of its valued guests,” the company said.

 

#Coronavirus #VictoriaCruise #Yangtze #rivercruise

World’s Biggest Ship Lift Opens in China

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The ship lift at the Three Gorges Dam in China is the world's largest.

The ship lift at the Three Gorges Dam in China is the world’s largest.
Thanks to GCaptain.com

Officials in China have began testing the world’s largest ship lift at the massive Three Gorges Dam in Central China.

The shiplift can lift vessels up to 3,000 tons across a vertical distance of 113 meters from the reservoir to the river below. The ship chamber itself has a pool of water 120-meters long by 18-meters wide and 3.5-meters deep. The lift was built to accommodate mostly small and medium-sized vessels, as larger ships use the dam’s adjacent five-tiered lock system to navigate the waterway. In addition to boosting capacity, the new lift is also expected to reduce transit time for most vessels from several hours to under one hour.

Trials of the lift began last Sunday after more than a decade of planning and construction. Check out this video below:

Three Gorges Dam Ship Lift

Photo credit to; Dave Jones

Spanning the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydro power project. Although the dam has been in commission since 2003, the power station opened in 2012 and in 2014 it set a new world record by producing 98.8 TWh of power.

Of course the world’s largest hydro-power dam is not without its share of controversy. While it is marveled by some for its amazing feat of engineering, the dam is notoriously debated both in China and overseas over issues related to its location and development, the displacement of people, and the ecological and environmental impacts that it has had on the area.

Making a run at the cost-conscious consumer

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At a time when other river cruise lines are scaling back on growth, French river cruise company CroisiEurope this week announced it will launch seven new river cruise vessels this year and next.

Granted not all seven are full-size European river cruise ships — two are 22-passenger canal barges, and one is launching on the Mekong — but still, seven ships is worth noting, especially for a company many of us here in the U.S. didn’t know much, if anything, about as recently as a couple years ago.

By the time these seven vessels are launched, CroisiEurope will have 46 company-owned vessels in its fleet. In 2014, the company carried some 200,000 cruise passengers (compared to the approximately 250,000 passengers carried by Viking River Cruises), although only about 8,000 to 9,000 of those hailed from the U.S. But CroisiEurope is growing its U.S customer base, and quickly.

So, what’s the deal with Croisi? Well, the company saw an opening at the lower end of the river cruise market and it is clearly going after it. For a long time, river cruising has grappled with a reputation of being a bit pricey. Travel agents would lament that while they wanted to sell more river cruises, especially since the very inclusive vacation style generally offers lofty commissions, not all of their clients could afford it.

Therein lies the opportunity for CroisiEurope, which after 40 years of building river cruise ships in Europe, is banking on its home-turf shipbuilding ties and a more pared down version of river cruising to bring lower prices to market. And while CroisiEurope’s older vessels do not compete with the sleek newbuilds being churned out by U.S.-facing river cruise lines such as Viking, AmaWaterways, Avalon, Uniworld and all the rest, the company has upped its ship design game and its newest batch of river cruise ships is focused on chicer interiors and enhanced amenities.

Another line going after this segment with arguably even chicer ships is Emerald Waterways, the lower-priced sister brand to Scenic. And it is having a good deal of success too. Having only launched in 2014, Emerald is on pace to have seven river cruise ships in Europe by 2017 (its fifth vessel, the 182-passenger Emerald Belle, was slated to launch this spring, but has been set back by a fire in the shipyard).

As river cruising piques more travelers’ interests, and the travel style opens up to a wider audience, there is clearly going to be more demand for and thus greater opportunity to provide a more accessible river cruising experience.