"Marine Patrol 1981", China's best equipped freshwater patrolling vessel carried out its first mission Saturday on the picturesque River of Guilin, a tourism resort in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The vessel was launched to assume the task of voyage supervision and safety guarantee on the Lijiang river, a world famous landscape, and was expected to help build better environment for tourists, said an official with the Guilin municipal government.

The Lijiang River, widely known for its limpid water with adjacent vivid, elegant and fancy mountain scenes, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in China.

More than 1.75 million tourists from home and abroad took cruise on the river by yachts in 2004.

The new vessel, built with an investment of 5.4 million yuan (US$650,000) from the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Communications, is equipped with GPS and active infrared ray screening system.

The facilities are conducive to immediate reaction, rescue, nighttime work and on-the-spot proof gathering, the official said.

The 32.08 meter vessel, with double engines and double oars, boasts a maximum speed of 21 kilometers per hour.  

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2005)