During the National Day holiday, city streets were adorned with colorful flags and filled with a festive atmosphere of family reunions. Yet inside the production workshops of Heilongjiang Shipping Group Co., Ltd., a completely different scene of bustling activity unfolded.

A large number of shipping construction workers bid farewell to their vacations and stayed at their posts on the front line, where the roar of machinery replaced celebratory songs and flying welding sparks became a unique kind of fireworks, as they raced against time to boost production, ensure smooth operations, and push forward schedules.

Heihe Port Terminal was in the midst of production operations. Walking into Heihe Port, the wharf front was a hive of activity. During the day, gantry crane booms rose and fell in sweeping arcs as port machinery operators kept a close watch inside the holds, steadily grabbing bags of soybeans and bulk grain for rapid unloading and transfer, safeguarding the transport corridor for livelihood supplies. As night spread across the river surface, the port area lights suddenly blazed to life, and the hum of machinery continued unabated.

"For bulk cargo, we have launched a round-the-clock shift model on-site, ensuring that operations continue even when workers rotate. Forklifts shuttle back and forth to complete cargo stacking and transfer, achieving seamless connection between ship, shore, and cargo areas," said Wang Shulin, Party branch secretary of the port area and director of the port machinery team.

Taking advantage of production gaps, maintenance crews crawled up to the equipment, disassembling and overhauling key components of loaders and conducting inspections of gantry cranes and forklifts one by one, nipping potential faults in the bud to ensure uninterrupted port operations.

Jiamusi Port carried out steel structure large-component lifting and unloading operations. Following the Songhua River downstream, the various port areas of Jiamusi Port were likewise running at full capacity.

The Tongjiang Port storage yard was piled with more than 40,000 tons of imported copper concentrate, with a steady stream of vehicles and cargo traffic. Gantry cranes and reach stackers worked in turns while workers rotated in relays, rushing to load export cement and expediting the unloading of copper concentrate as train after train loaded with goods departed from the port area.

Guo Fenghui, deputy Party secretary and general manager of Jiamusi Port, said that during the National Day period, Tongjiang Port expected to transport and unload nearly 2,000 tons of return cargo from Russia's Nizhneleninskoye Port, with another 2,000 tons of general cargo planned for consolidation and export to Russia's Khabarovsk Port, going all out to sprint toward the annual production and operation targets.

Frontline port personnel also tightened their focus in sync. Hayudao and Fuyuan ports welcomed a travel peak, with staff coordinating with multiple units to flexibly increase ferry schedules. On the three floating bridges in Qiqihar, vehicles flowed endlessly back and forth.

Safety management personnel constantly patrolled the docks and floating bridge sites, keeping a close eye on high-risk operations such as high-altitude lifting and mechanical work, immediately rectifying any hazards found in a closed loop, balancing efficient cargo circulation with safe passenger travel.

Northern Shipbuilding Production Workshop. Inside the factory of Harbin Northern Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd., welding light flickered, and the scene was equally bustling with production activity. Welding torches rose and fell, sparks bursting forth throughout the workshop, as workers wearing safety helmets focused intently on grinding and welding hull components.

The construction of the China-Russia border river emergency rescue and salvage floating crane vessel was advancing at full pace. "We will strictly control construction quality, accelerate the construction schedule at full speed, and with a craftsman's spirit of striving for perfection, build a solid defense for engineering quality, fully promoting the quality and speed of key project construction to achieve results," said Wang Guotao, a ship welder.

The prefabrication yard maintained 12-hour operations to reserve precast blocks for the laying operations ahead. Outside the workshop, the autumn wind swept mightily across the Songhua River, marking the golden season for water-based construction.

The laying vessel of the Songhua A2 Project Department of the Port and Shipping Company was steadily anchored in the river. As river winds blew across the deck, construction personnel carefully spread the soft mattress and tied ballast blocks, constantly monitoring water levels and flow speeds, and finely controlling the vessel's movement speed to ensure underwater bottom protection construction met standards. Onshore, the prefabrication yard stayed brightly lit around the clock, implementing a 12-hour two-shift system with concrete pouring and component curing taking turns, while technical personnel followed along throughout, inspecting component dimensions and strength item by item, with both water and land fronts working in unison to seize key milestones in the shallow shoal waterway regulation project on the lower reaches of the Songhua River.

Ashi River Port Area Operations Site. Cadres and workers at the Ashi River Port Area of Harbin Port also stayed at the production frontline, seizing the golden window period for water transport operations, going all out to ensure smooth loading and unloading operations and safeguarding the safe and unimpeded flow of the regional inland river logistics corridor.

The Ashi River Port Area strictly implemented holiday production guarantee mechanisms and adopted a normalized operating model. Whenever there were production tasks or vessel arrival needs, operating personnel quickly reported to their posts and organized production in a closed loop.

"During the holiday period, the port area expects 3 groups of vessel fleets and 6 Asia-Pacific single-barge vessels to arrive, completing 15,000 tons of unloading, with practical achievements going all out to ensure the stable and smooth operation of the water transport supply chain," said Fan Haidong, director of the Third Operations Area.

Fuding City Xiamen Qingwan Third-Level Fishing Port Project Precast Caisson Construction Site. More than 3,000 kilometers away, at various fishing port construction sites in Fujian, the figures of Longjiang port and shipping personnel were likewise present. Builders from the Fifth Project Department of the Port and Shipping Company were far from their hometowns, taking root in a foreign land.

At multiple fishing port project sites in Fuding and Ningde, management personnel were on duty and patrolling around the clock, firmly guarding the gates of safety and quality, while construction personnel seized the favorable window period of the fourth quarter, with procedures such as precast caissons and longitudinal beams advancing in an orderly manner.

Zhou Xuegang, deputy manager of the Fifth Project Department, said: "We are carrying out all construction operations in an orderly manner in strict accordance with construction specifications and technical standards, unafraid of hardship and going all out, focusing on doing every procedure well and grasping every detail, using sweat and perseverance to ensure steady acceleration and efficiency improvement in project construction."

From the river ports and shipbuilding workshops of Heilongjiang, to the ceaselessly flowing river surface, and to construction sites in the southern land thousands of miles away, this National Day, shipping construction workers integrated their love for home and country into every task at hand. There was no holiday leisure, only figures rushing about busily. They safeguarded the smooth flow of port logistics, tackled key engineering projects, and with down-to-earth perseverance, delivered a weighty construction answer sheet for the motherland's birthday. (Images and videos provided by the interviewed units.)