China's first river-sea zero-carbon route was launched when the pure-electric vessel Ningyuan Dianpeng fully loaded with containers slowly departed from Jiaxing Port and set out its maiden voyage bound for Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday, the Global Times learned.

The event marks the launch of the country's first river-sea intermodal transportation into the zero-carbon era, which charts a replicable and scalable pathway for the electrification and decarbonization of transportation in coastal and inland waterways, according to a press release sent to the Global Times by Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

The river-sea intermodal zero-carbon route is built around the creation of a full-chain zero-carbon transport system, integrated pure electric container trucks, pure electric inland river vessels and pure electric sea vessels.

The first batch of "zero-carbon" cargoes are knock-down auto kits produced by Chinese automaker Geely.

The total length of the zero-emission transportation corridor is 330 to 350 kilometers, Ningbo Zhoushan Port told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The cargo is transported from Geely's Changxing factory by electric trucks to the Port of Huzhou, where it is transferred to six electric river vessels, each with a capacity of 64 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), then shipped via various inland waterways to Port of Jiaxing. Finally, the cargo is transferred to the pure electric seaworthy vessel Ningyuan Dianpeng for onward shipment to Ningbo Zhoushan Port, achieving zero carbon emissions throughout the entire journey.

The green transformation not only delivers environmental benefits but also yields economic dividends. According to estimates by the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, after the route's opening, annual carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 4,800 tons, and logistics costs can be cut by 7.4 million yuan.

As the core capacity on the route, the Ningyuan Dianpeng deployed for the maiden voyage is a sister ship of the Ningyuan Diankun.

Built by Ningbo Ocean Shipping Co, it is one of the world's largest and China's first batch of 10,000-ton-class electric intelligent container vessels. Measuring 127.8 meters in length and 21.6 meters in width, it can carry 742 TEUs and uses 10 standardized containerized battery packs as its core power source, with a total storage capacity of approximately 20,000 kWh.

The Ningyuan Diankun went into operation on the Ningbo-Jiaxing route in April, saving 67 tons of fuel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 168 tons in its first month. Annual savings are projected to reach 800 tons of fuel and over 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

With the commissioning of the Ningyuan Dianpeng, Ningbo Ocean Shipping Co's pure electric intelligent sea vessels will achieve large-scale operations on the designated zero-carbon route.