China's Bohai Coast Suffers Severe Icing

In the coast off East China's Shandong Province, the most severe icing situation in the past 30 years is worsening amid continuing cold snaps, greatly impacting the shipping and sea farming industry there.

CRI reporter Larry Chen will take us for a closer look.

Sea ice appeared along the coastline of the Bohai Sea as cold fronts pushed temperature down, and it is spreading fast off the country's eastern coast.

By now, the floating chunks of ice on the Bohai Sea have reached 30,000 square kilometers, covering over 40 percent of the Bohai Sea area.

The outer edge of the ice sheets in the Laizhou and Liaodong Bays extended 30 nautical miles and 70 nautical miles respectively. The ice thickness measured 20 to 50 centimeters.

Lin Qingshan, an official from the State Oceanic Administration, says there has been a great impact on the operation of sea ports.

"Jinzhou Bay and Huanghua Bay's ships have been affected by the sea ice. The in-and –out time to ports, as well as the loading time, is longer than before."

The ice has trapped fishing boats in the ports of Laizhou Bay for more than ten days, damaging some as the freezing ice squeezes in.

It is also dangerous for fishing boats to go to sea - a local fisherman surnamed Zhang says his livelihood has been affected by the ice.

"I have been trapped for nearly a month. We are very anxious because we cannot get out of the port. We used to work on the sea at the same time every year. We have suffered a great loss since we cannot leave the port."

Two cold fronts are expected to sweep across the region, worsening the situation on the Bohai coast.

Larry Chen, CRI news