Ships at some ports in Shanghai are still at anchor this afternoon as fog kept visibility to less than 1,000 meters, the maritime authority said today.

The Wusong maritime safety administration, in charge of water traffic safety at the mouth of the Yangtze River, said large vessels were ordered to stay at anchor after fog arrived late yesterday evening.

Visibility in some areas at the mouth of the Yangtze River is slowly improving and some large vessels were allowed to keep sailing. But restrictions were still in place for some areas as of noon.

Fog also disrupted rush-hour traffic this morning on Shanghai's expressways. Police cars were used to lead queuing vehicles on highways and control speeds during the start of rush hour at 7 am, the highway authority said.

The city's highways were closed gradually after midnight. Almost all had reopened as of 8:45 am.

(Shanghai Daily April 7, 2008)