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Panama cargo ship Grace River, loaded with 2.5 tons of propane, dropped anchor at the Boli wharf in Pinghu, a county-level city in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on Feb 9, according to local media reports.

Grace River is the first foreign cargo ship that Boli wharf has received since it opened on Jan 21. Shortly after opening, the wharf was forced to close again due to the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, but has since reopened.

Boli wharf was renovated from the No 1 and No 2 berths at the former Dushan port area. Home to a five-ton liquid bulk cargo berth, Boli wharf is designed to transport 2.28 million tons of liquid cargo per year.

The wharf is mainly used to transport chemical materials for the production base of Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co (Satlpec) in Pinghu.

Satlpec is a manufacturer of urgently-needed protective medical supplies, of which propane is the main raw material.

"The opening of Boli wharf was disrupted by the increasingly severe epidemic," said Hu Wenzhen, who is in charge of the wharf, adding that thanks to the efficient services provided by Jiaxing Customs, Boli wharf was put into operation as scheduled on Jan 21.

Hu noted that the wharf will help ease the shortage of raw materials for medical supplies and lower the company's transportation fees by about 7.1 million yuan ($1.01 million) per year.

Local media reported that 80 percent of companies in Jiaxing Port involving cargo handling, storage and lightering had resumed operations and 150 cargo ships had docked at the port.

Panama cargo ship Grace River, loaded with 2.5 tons of propane, drops anchor at the Boli wharf in Pinghu, a county-level city in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on Feb 9. [Photo/cnjxol.com]