Jag Aarati called the port of Rugao in Nantong province, China for her scheduled docking and repairs in December 2015. The dry-docking was done in the Changjiang shipyard of the Cosco Shanghai group situated in an island on the Yangste river near Nantong City. 

The island is famous for her organic vegetation and farming and  is a renowned “longevity” city with more than two hundred centenarian residents..During the ship’s stay for the repairs, the shipyard had arranged for a Christmas eve party in one of the organic farms on the island grandly named  “ Longevity island”.

The farm-cum restaurant is known for cooking dishes out of the ingredients which are the secret behind the longevity of the residents of the island and hence the name behind the restaurant! This time around, the weather at Rugao was unusually pleasant, not something we would normally expect in the Yangzi river delta at this time of the year.

 The opportunity was also utilized to bring in the New year with the ship’s officers with a New Year Eve’s dinner. 

Thanks to the smart phone, language is no more the problem that once was in the Rising East; everyone has the Chinese – English translator on their smart phone and we followed suit by loading this app on ours!

The vessel was fitted with a Mewis Duct ( the eight vessel in the Gesco fleet to be fitted with this fuel savings device ) during her dry-docking. The repairs were completed as per schedule on 3^rd January 2016 and the ship sailed for her next port Geelong, Australia for loading a consignment of grain for Gent, Belgium.