On the morning of May, 2nd, a welcome reception was held in the International Trade Terminal of Xiamen Port for the return of “Yongsheng”, owned by the COSCO Shipping Specialized Carrier Co.,Ltd. The participants included leaders and guests from the Ministry of Department, the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre (NMEFC), the China Institute of Navigation (CIN), COSCO Shipping Group, the Port of Xiamen, CCS Shanghai Branch, COSCO WEBSITES, Jimei University, COSCO Shipping Specialized, etc., as well as the representatives of the students from Jimei University and the workers from International Trade Terminal of Xiamen Port Authority.
The reception was chairedby Cai Meijiang, Deputy General Manager of COSCO Shipping Specialized. On behalf of CIN, the General Secretary Wang Qun conferred the honorary title “Pioneer for Antarctic Scientific Research” to ‘Yongsheng’ in order to honor its special contributions to the exploration of South Pole Route and the services with high quality for the Antarctic Scientific Research and the clients, etc. Song Jiahui, member of CPPCC and former Security Director of the Ministry of Transport, and Yang Zonghui, Deputy General Manager of safety supervision of COSCO Shipping Group, delivered speeches on the ceremony separately. Ge Buhai, Captain of Yongsheng, delivered a report on the basic information and practice experience of the Antarcticroute exploration.
In the afternoon, the seminar concerning the first successful commercial shipping of Yongsheng to the South Pole was held in Jimei University. A total number of over 30 participants attended the meeting, including representatives from CIN, the COSCO Shipping Group, the Polar Research Institute of China, NMEFC, Jimei University as well as other relative units and institutes. Based on the implementation of Antarctic Project by Yongsheng, the seminar recalled and discussed the history, commercial values and the strategic significance of polarnavigation, as well as the practical significance for pushing China’s Polar Enterprise into a new phrase.
On September 14th, 2016, the COSCO Specialized Shipping and the China Electronics Import and Export Cooperation (CEIEC), officially entered into a contact on the entire logistics transportationof the reconstruction project of Brazil South Pole Station.On November 3rd, Yongsheng, fully loaded with the materials of Brazil Station construction, set sail from Shanghai to the South Pole. The whole project lasted over 120 days, covered 14,500 nautical miles, and shipped a cumulative total number of 4,715 units of goods, 12,000 freight tons in total.
Faced with the extremely harsh Antarctic environment, the 30 braves withgreat courage from COSCO Shipping sailed to the South Pole, devoting themselves to the well-being of the country and the cooperation. After a four-month endeavor, they finally accomplished the project with an honorable zero-accident record, whose professional performance, dedication, and environmental awareness won the praise of the clients and the officers from Brazilian Navy and Ministry of Environmental Protection.
