WUHAN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A homegrown electric ship has conducted a trial operation in central China on the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway.
Junlyu is the first electric ship weighing above 1,000 tonnes to sail the Yangtze. It took two years to build the vessel by altering an oil-powered ship.
With powerful lithium batteries, the 53-meter-long ship can carry 300 people. It is also the country's first electric ship with a length of more than 50 meters.
The trial run took place in a port in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province on Thursday. During the operation, the ship sailed smoothly and discharged no pollutants.
"After five hours of charging, the ship can run for at least 10 hours," said Lei Hao, with the State Grid's Wuhan branch.
The ship will serve river tourism beginning early this year, and authorities plan to transform more tourist ships into electric ones in the future.
