At the deep-water port of Taicang port, which lies adjacent to the Shanghai municipality on the Yangtze River estuary, titan-like ships are not uncommon.

In the past half of 2015, Taicang port offered a pilotage service to 393 Capesize vessels, an annual increase of 22 percent. It also offered the service to 707 special service ships, an annual increase of 11.21 percent, according to the pilotage station at the port.

Capesize ships are normally referred to as bulk carriers and usually have a minimum capacity of 150,000 DWT (deadweight). They are typically used for the transportation of coal, iron ore and other commodities.

The 393 Capesize bulk ships that called in at Taicang port in the first half of 2015 measured between 250 and 300 meters in length.

Special service ships are built to a large scale to serve special purposes. Generally speaking, they are used in chemical transportation, scientific expeditions and maritime project construction.

Taicang port is 68 kilometers away from the pilot anchorage at the Yangtze River exit to the East China Sea. The river runs as deep as 12.5 meters along Taicang's port line.

Taicang port assumed its sea port status at the beginning of 2013 and has since been enjoying a boom in shipping business.

Besides bulk carriers and special service ships, the number of container ships has also been on the rise in last few years. The port authority reported 171 container lines as of April 2015, including near-sea routes to overseas destinations, domestic lines and feeder lines that link inland river ports to international terminals. Of late, the number of near-sea lines has reached 20.

Because of their enormous loads, large vessels are difficult to maneuver and are prone to clashes and running aground. While a large number of container ships pull out the port during the early hours. These situations have presented challenges to the pilotage unit at Taicang port.

The pilotage unit manages to process four Capesize ships with each tide. They also renewed the port's draft record on three occasions. Their dedication to the job is the reason each container liner can depart on time.