China's Ministry of Communications urged local governments Thursday to put unlawful forwarders via roll-on-roll-off ships on East China's Bohai Bay on a blacklist from January 1, 2006.

The ministry said this is aimed at preventing accidents, especially fire, from happening since a large number of accidents were caused by vehicles carrying dangerous articles without registration.

According to the requirement of the ministry, once such vehicle was checked out by the ports, the number of the vehicles and the companies they belong to will be publicized.

At the same time, the information will be transferred to local transport administrative departments in Shandong and Liaoning Province. Unlawful haulers will be punished according to the related law and regulations, the ministry said.

Three major lines on Bohai Bay, which are called "golden lines, " have linked northeast China's Liaodong Peninsular and east China's Shandong Peninsular. The nearest distance from the two peninsulas is only 89 sea miles, about 1,800 miles less than the distance on land.

The golden lines transport 18 million tons of goods and about six to seven million passengers per year. However, because of weather and other reasons, accidents have happened frequently in this area.

The ministry urged that the information of unlawful vehicles should also be transferred to other ports and related companies to provide no service to them.

Source: Xinhua