The Zijing-23 ro-ro passenger ship makes four safe berths at the ferry terminal of Xuwen Port in Zhanjiang on July 31. [Photo/WeChat account: gdzjfb]

The Zijing-23 ro-ro passenger ship made four safe berths at the ferry terminal of Xuwen Port in Zhanjiang on July 31, marking a successful result for the port's first no-load trial berthing.

The trial berthing aimed to verify whether the relevant equipment and facilities, such as landing stages, meet the technical conditions for navigation safety.

With its construction starting on Jan 1, 2017, Xuwen Port is scheduled to open for operation in October. With a total investment of 1.71 billion yuan ($242.56 million), the port is designed to have an annual handling capacity of 3.2 million vehicles and 17.28 million passengers.

After completion, the shipping time between Xuwen Port and Xinhai Port of Haikou in Hainan province will be halved to one hour.

The Zijing-23 ro-ro passenger ship stops at the No 16 berth at the ferry terminal of Xuwen Port. [Photo/WeChat account: gdzjfb]