Abstract: This paper studies the routing design problem of inland river container liners. In accordance with the significant impact of loading volumes on the draft of inland ships,a strategy was proposed to optimize the last port of call on the ship's outbound route based on loading volumes. In view of the features that loaded containers can only be transported in one direction while empty containers can be transported in both directions on inland waterway,the node variables of empty containers were introduced. Then,two route design models considering cargo flow balance were established under two scenarios depending on whether the demand is divisible. Ten groups of real ships with different sizes on the Yangtze River were selected for example validation analysis. The results indicate that optimizing the last port of call for ships based on loading volumes and considering cargo flow balance are beneficial for improving the shipping company's voyage profits. Both the number of ships deployed on the route and the number of ports of call show a trend of first increasing and then remaining unchanged with the increase in the seasonal water depth of the Yangtze River channel or the decreases in the confidence level set by the shipping company. The shipping company's voyage profit also increases with water depth. The research conclusions can provide useful references for operation decision-making of shipping companies on inland waterway liner transportation.