Massive ship sets sail from Jiangsu with cargo of cars

The world's largest ice-class multipurpose pulp ship carrying 2,797 new energy vehicles, set sail from Taicang Port in Jiangsu province to South America on Tuesday.

The 68,000-dwt ship Green Kemi had its maximum carrying capacity increased by 20 percent over 62,000-dwt ships.

To meet the requirements for transporting new energy cars, the Green Kemi was equipped with infrared temperature imaging device in its cabin. Its spraying system will be turned on if the temperature climbs too high.

According to Taicang Customs, a total of 172,000 cars had been exported from the port from January to June this year, an increase of 11.3 times over the same period last year. New energy cars accounted for 52.3 percent of the exported cars.

Fang Jian, a director of the development service bureau of Taicang Port Management Committee, said cars are mainly exported from Taicang to South America, Europe, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, including brands of Renault, Tesla, Dongfeng, Jaguar and Land Rover.

As of March, China had surpassed Japan to become the world's largest automobile exporter. Its exports of new energy vehicles has ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years, according to Jstv.com.