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| Saturday, November 10, 2001, updated at 21:40(GMT+8) |
Shanghai Builds Mainland's Largest Ocean Carrier |
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The 289-metre-long carrier, with an expected speed of 15 sea miles per hour, is claimed to be the largest ship of its type the mainland is planning to make and the largest such carrier allowed to port in Dunkirk, France. It is monumental for China's shipmaking industry and will greatly enhance China's competitiveness in the global shipmaking market.
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Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd (SWSC), based in the Pudong area of Shanghai, began to actualize its ambition to lead China's shipmaking industry, with the start of production of the 175,000 DWT Capesize Bulk Carrier, the largest in the Chinese mainland, on Thursday.
"It is monumental for China's shipmaking industry and will greatly enhance China's competitiveness in the global shipmaking market," said K H Koo, chairman of Tai Chong Cheang Steamship Company, a Hong Kong-based company who booked two carriers from SWSC, expected to hand over the first product in 2003.
The 289-metre-long carrier, with an expected speed of 15 sea miles per hour, is claimed to be the largest ship of its type the mainland is planning to make and the largest such carrier allowed to port in Dunkirk, France.
The design of the carrier embodies the consciousness of environmental-friendliness. The fuel cabin is covered with double partitions to prevent oil leakage if there is a sea wreck.
To date, SWSC has inked the contracts to make four such carriers, two for the Hong Kong company and two for China Ocean Shipping Company.
A Belgian company recently signed an intention with SWSC.
"The construction of such a shipbuilding base is strategic to upgrade China's shipmaking technology and capacity, and we have made a good start," said Hu Minghe, standing deputy manager-general of China State Shipmaking Corporation, the largest shareholder of SWSC.
The base is an important project of the country and a key project of Shanghai. It is divided into two phases, with a total investment of 3.2 billion yuan (US$387.2 million).
The first phase was started in October 1999 and is expected to be completed in 2003. By that time, the shipbuilding capacity of this base is to reach 1.05 million tons. By the end of last month, 2.514 billion yuan (US$303 million) -- nearly 80 per cent of the total investment -- had been actualized.
The two symbolic 300,000-ton dry docks have, basically, been completed, and the two gantry cranes, with a lifting capacity of 6 million tons, have been installed at the gate of the two docks, and will soon be in operation.
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