Two electric boats that will be used at the Rugao ship service zone in the Yangtze River are launched on May 28 at Hunan Xiangchuan Shipbuilding Industry Co in Changsha, Hunan province. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Two electric boats which will be used at the Rugao ship service zone in the Yangtze River were launched on May 28 at Hunan Xiangchuan Shipbuilding Industry Co in Changsha, Hunan province.

Both boats are the first of their kind to be produced in China. The 28-meter boat will be used to collect solid waste, sewage and bilge water from ships passing by, while the 19-meter boat will be responsible for free transportation, rescue tasks, and helping fight fire.

Officials said that the boats will soon be delivered to Rugao to be put into service.

The ship service zone in the Yangtze River in Rugao officially started operations on Nov 21, 2019. It is the only comprehensive and environmentally-friendly ship service zone in Jiangsu province and the only on-water ship service zone in China that offers electric power to ships, with two transformers in the pontoon.