Yangtze set to become a 'highway on the water'

"That requires the ship to have the both an oceangoing vessel's resistance to high waves and a river ship's maneuverability to deal with complicated water routes," Wu said.

Designing a 10,000-ton ship to meet that criterion is a complex engineering project, and Wu and his team started by learning from their Europeans counterparts, who have been building similar vessels for use on rivers such as the Rhine and the Volga.

In the past decade, Wu has sent dozens of his students and professors to universities in Germany and the Netherlands to study local ship models, and then adapt those designs to deal with the Yangtze's features, improving safety and making the ships more efficient.

"I feel happy that many buyers have ordered our ships because they think they are more cost effective," Wu said, adding that the buyers include major players such as China COSCO Shipping Corp, Huazhong Ship Group, and Sinotrans& CSC Holdings Co.

"We are also negotiating with buyers from Germany and Russia."