More than 2,000 tourists had to stay on board a ship near Tianjin Port for two extra days due to heavy smog that shrouded the city and much of North China over the New Year's Day holiday.

The cruise ship, bound for Tianjin municipality, arrived off the coast on Dec 31 as scheduled, but told passengers that it had to wait until further notice from the port to dock due to poor visibility caused by smog, Beijing Evening News reported.

The ship waited for two days and eventually docked safely at Tianjin Port on Monday afternoon, the report said.