Dozens of cargo ships loaded with coal, sand and ore have run aground on the Hanjiang River, the longest branch of the Yangtze River, due to the lowest water level for 77 years.

About 70 cargo ships ran aground at Xiangfan, a city in the middle reaches of the river, according to the local maritime office. The average water level is less than 0.8 meters which is only navigable for ships under one hundred tons, the office said.

"My two ships loaded with coal have been stranded here for 18 days," said Han Shouliang. He has suffered losses of more than 40,000 yuan (5,000 U.S. dollars) in the past two months due to the poor navigation conditions.

The water level at Yujianao between Xiangfan and Yicheng, was 51.2 meters on Tuesday, the lowest in 77 years, according to the Hydrological Station of Xiangyang.

The water flow at this section of the river was 440 cubic meters per second, well under the minimum requirement of 478 cubic meters per second for navigation on the river, according to the station.

A lack of substantial rainfall in the upper reaches since the beginning of August is the major cause of the low water level. Rainfall was down 80 percent on previous years, the station said.

The 1,500-km tributary originates in Shaanxi Province, traverses Henan Province before joining the Yangtze River in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. The river's middle reaches in Hubei are busy with ships carrying raw materials from north to south.

Source: Xinhua