Crew members of Tianjing, or Sky Whale, a self-propelled cutter-suction dredger, are running the vessel during a task off the coast of Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province on January 14, 2023. Once Asia’s largest cutter-suction dredger, Tianjing has been hailed as a powerful tool for island-building because of its strong excavation and hydraulic reclamation ability. Not only has it been operating in domestic seas, Tianjing is also garrisoned in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Kenya and Ghana. Photos: Shi Ding and Shan Jie/GT