FT.com: How China Rules The Waves (Shipbuilding Tech, Port Tech, Shipping & Maritime Network)

[TaiShang]

First locally built cruise liner due for delivery in 2023
By Wang Ying | China Daily | Updated: 2017-06-01

Performers stage a folk dance from China's Shaanxi province on board the Majestic Princess in Rome, May 22, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's first domestically manufactured cruise liner will be delivered in 2023, followed by a delivery rate of one vessel per year between 2024 and 2028, said a senior executive from one of the companies involved in the China-built cruise project.

The first China-made cruise liner will be 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide, and it will be delivered in six years, according to the Shanghai Observer, citing Wu Qiang, general manager of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

In order to cash in on the nation's booming cruise market, a 2.6 billion pound ($3.33 billion) agreement was signed in October 2015 between CSSC, China Investment Corp and Carnival Corporation & Plc. The three parties agreed to set up a joint-venture cruise operation based in Hong Kong, which would place orders.

In February, Carnival announced that its cruise joint venture had signed a memorandum of agreement to order the first-ever cruise ships built in China for the Chinese market.

As part of the agreement, the joint venture will order two new liners to be built by a China-based shipbuilding joint venture by China's largest shipbuilder CSSC, Carnival and Italy-based Fincantieri SpA. The agreement also gives the joint venture the option to order four additional China-built ships.

The future cruise liner will have nearly 2,000 cabins and a maximum capacity of nearly 5,000 passengers.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd, a company controlled by CSSC, will commence construction of the $1 billion cruise ship, Chen Gang, vice-president of Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, told China Daily in an earlier interview.

China's cruise economy, which started in 2006, saw a 45 percent compound annualized growth rate in the past decade. Wu Zhenglian, a cruise design expert with a research institute at CSSC, estimated that 4.5 million Chinese people will go on cruises by 2020, which would need 40 cruise ships to homeport in China.

"The China cruise market is growing rapidly. Last year, more than 3.6 million trips were made, a 33 percent rise year-on-year, and that figure is expected to reach at least 10 million trips by 2030," said Zhang Xuewu, chairman of China Tourism Group Co Ltd.

 

[beijingwalker]

Asia's Largest Cruise Ship Begins Maiden Voyage from east China

 

[haidian]

China builds a ship three times as big as the largest AC in the world

 

[somsak]

Something common between China and US: Bigger is better Philosophy

 

[Han Patriot]

China builds a ship three times as big as the largest AC in the world

Damn I didn't realise ZPMC could make their own DP3 system. All the while I only heard of Norwegian systems.

 

[JSCh]

First homegrown cruise ship takes shape
By WANG YING in Shanghai | China Daily | Updated: 2017-06-10 09:11

A cruise ship enters a shipyard in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, for maintenance in April. The first cruise liner to be built in China is expected to be delivered in 2023. SHEN LEI / FOR CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: In the run-up to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China Daily will cover a series of key projects and advanced equipment of national importance, showcasing the country's huge improvements and relentless efforts in manufacturing upgrading and innovation.

Historic vessel, costing estimated $1 billion, will be delivered to HK buyer in 2023

The first cruise liner to be built in the Chinese mainland is expected to be delivered to a Hong Kong-based buyer in 2023, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of the nation's shipbuilding industry.

It is also expected to boost a plethora of supplier segments as well as domestic tourism, experts said. The vessel will be used in the Chinese market.

The as-yet unnamed ship will be built at Waigaoqiao, Shanghai, by a joint venture between the State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp and Italy-based Fincantieri SpA, the world's largest cruise shipbuilding company.

There is no official word on the cost and cost advantages, if any, compared to European shipbuilders that dominate the industry.

But Chen Gang, vice-president of Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a company controlled by CSSC, said he expects the vessel to cost about $1 billion.

The cruise ship, reportedly 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide, can hold nearly 5,000 passengers in 2,000 cabins.

For perspective, Harmony of the Seas, built by the STX France yard in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast for US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, is regarded as the world's largest cruise ship, according to a London Guardian report. The vessel, which cost close to $1 billion, has 16 decks and can carry 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

According to Wu Qiang, general manager of CSSC, the China-made vessel will be the first of five to be delivered on a yearly basis from 2023 onward.

Wu Zhenglian, a cruise ship design expert with CSSC's research institute, said, "The vessel is the outcome of a decade of efforts by the Chinese shipbuilding industry to satisfy the rising demand for water-based travel among the country's humongous and upwardly mobile middle class."

Some 2.1 million Chinese tourists traveled in cruise liners in 2016, taking the third position in the annual global passenger rankings, according to data from the Cruise Lines International Association.

The rise to the third spot took over a decade.

China's cruise economy took off in 2006, posting about 45 percent compound annual growth rate ever since.

Building homegrown cruise ships is part of the natural evolution of the industry, observers said.

Currently, Italy, Germany and France dominate the world's luxury cruise shipbuilding sector. In all, they make and deliver eight large cruise ships per year, lagging the world's demand for 13 ships.

This is where CSSC sees future potential.

In October 2015, it signed an agreement with China Investment Corp, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, and Carnival Corp & Plc, the world's largest leisure travel company with global operations, to form a joint venture in Hong Kong.

The latter will place orders with the CSSC-Fincantieri joint venture for cruise ships.

In February, Carnival announced the Hong Kong company had signed an agreement to order the first-ever cruise ship to be built in the Chinese mainland.

The Hong Kong company will order two new liners from the CSSC-Fincantieri joint venture. It has an option to order four more home-built ships.

The construction of China's first cruise ship will help improve various sectors of the domestic shipbuilding ecosystem, said Chen of Waigaoqiao.

According to Wu Zhenglian, in spite of China's strength in building other types of vessels, the construction of a cruise ship would be a new experience as it has special requirements in craftsmanship, quality and other specifications.

Preparation for the project began in 2014. The design of the vessel would need at least 1 million man-hours. The construction requires more than 3,000 skilled workers with professional education and technical knowledge, according to Chen.

Wu Zhenglian said the building process of the first two vessels would need extra time as it involves professionals from different cultures, who may take some time to learn to work together.

That also presents a great opportunity for Chinese manufacturers to gather experience of multicultural workplaces and learn foreign shipbuilding techniques.

To meet the stiff deadline and avoid any time overrun that would result in huge losses, the shipbuilder needs to access a global supply chain as well as a network of domestic suppliers that can provide high-quality components, Wu said.

 

[JSCh]

China’s homegrown passenger container ship to embark on maiden voyage
(People's Daily Online) 16:58, June 08, 2017

Ocean Blue Whale, China’s domestically designed large passenger container ship, will officially enter use this month. The ship, with a length of 182.6 meters, can hold 810 passengers and 460 containers. It will run between Yantai, Shandong province and Pyeongtaek, South Korea. (Xinhua)

​

 

[Shotgunner51]

Chinese firm starts work on $1bn Panamanian megaport
Port News 14/06/2017

A $1bn project to build a new deepwater port and container terminal near the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal has begun. Both its developer and the firm building it are Chinese.

China Landbridge, a privately owned company (China's 'invisible billionaire' – the Port of Darwin's new owner, http://www.afr.com/news/world/china...the-port-of-darwins-new-owner-20151121-gl4rtn) based in the northern Chinese port of Rizhao, bought Panama’s largest port, at Margarita Island, in May last year and announced that it wanted to expand and modernise the facilities. The new high-speed, deepwater port will be called the Panama Colón Container Port (PCCP).

In line with China’s grand One Belt, One Road global strategy, the plan is to capitalise on the doubling in the capacity of the canal, which can now handle the New Panamax container ships that can transport up to 14,500 teu (twenty-foot equivalent units). That work was completed in June last year.

The first stone of the port was laid on 7 June by Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela, who commented that the port was the most important Chinese investment in Panama so far.

Ye Cheng, the president of Landbridge Group, said during the ceremony that the port would become one of the most important in the world. He said: “Landbridge’s ports in Asia and Oceania together with PCCP on Margarita Island will be efficiently connected to exploit maritime cooperation, contributing to the economic development of all countries.”​

Kenneth Zhang, a representative for the PCCP, said last year: “We look at the project on long term and we feel pretty good with the investment. With the canal expansion, the future of Panama is bright, even though we know the maritime sector presently suffers a global crisis but we have a different reading for the future.”​

The work will be carried out in three stages. The first will increase the port’s handling capacity to 2.5 million teu and add a liquefied natural gas terminal.

The contractor will be China Communications Construction Company. When the first stage is complete in the second quarter of 2019, PCCP will have four berths with a total quay length of 1.2km and a depth of 18m.

The second and third stages will add a logistics park and more cranage to the port. According to Panamanian website Critica, the final port will have a capacity of 11 million teu, making it the 13th largest container port in the world.

China Landbridge hit the headlines in May last year when it acquired a 99-year lease on the northern Australian port of Darwin for $361m. This prompted the US government to express concern that the Chinese presence could be used to “facilitate intelligence collection on US and Australian military forces stationed nearby”.

Source: CIOB

Read the full article at http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/chinese-firm-starts-work-on-1bn-panamanian-megaport/

@Gibbs @Godman

 

[Gibbs]

Panama is one of the latest nations to recognize the Peoples republic as well over Chinese Taipei

 

[Shotgunner51]

Panama is one of the latest nations to recognize the Peoples republic as well over Chinese Taipei

Well yes, Hutchison Whampoa - controlled by a Hong Kong tycoon - has been running ports in Panama Canal for decades, now that as Beijing formalizes diplomatic relationship with Panama, I see more Mainland entrepreneurs (like Landbridge Group) or SOE expanding their presence.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB93992854168999852
http://www.scmp.com/article/186992/hutchison-completes-panama-canal-deal

 

[TaiShang]

Ahmad Fadel, the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, is seen during its inauguration ceremony in Ismailia, Egypt, on June 20, 2017. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish on Wednesday raised the Egyptian flag on the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, which is made in China. Named after former SCA chairman Ahmad Fadel, the ship was built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)


Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish (C) visits Ahmad Fadel, the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, in Ismailia, Egypt, on June 20, 2017. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish on Wednesday raised the Egyptian flag on the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, which is made in China. Named after former SCA chairman Ahmad Fadel, the ship was built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)


Ahmad Fadel, the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, is seen during its inauguration ceremony in Ismailia, Egypt, on June 20, 2017. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish on Wednesday raised the Egyptian flag on the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, which is made in China. Named after former SCA chairman Ahmad Fadel, the ship was built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)


The deck area of Ahmad Fadel, the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, is seen during its inauguration ceremony in Ismailia, Egypt, on June 20, 2017. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish on Wednesday raised the Egyptian flag on the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, which is made in China. Named after former SCA chairman Ahmad Fadel, the ship was built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)


The AHC subsea crane of Ahmad Fadel, the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, is seen during its inauguration ceremony in Ismailia, Egypt, on June 20, 2017. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish on Wednesday raised the Egyptian flag on the largest multi-purpose supply vessel in the Middle East, which is made in China. Named after former SCA chairman Ahmad Fadel, the ship was built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

http://china.org.cn/photos/2017-06/21/content_41067852.htm

 

[Shotgunner51]

China To Invest $7B In Floating LNG Offshore Africa
By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jun 27, 2017, 9:27 AM CDT

In a strategic push to become the world’s lowest-cost seller of floating LNG plants, China is planning on a US$7 billion investment spree in this type of projects offshore Africa, Reuters reported on Monday, citing bankers, industry sources, and energy consultants.

Despite the fact that spot LNG prices have dropped by 70 percent since 2014, and are under pressure from new capacity from the U.S. and Australia, China is one of investors that sees the current LNG glut ending at the beginning of the next decade.

Chinese banks are banking on energy markets’ recovery next decade, and unlike Western banks—that are currently reluctant to extend hefty funds to floating LNG projects—China has extended or committed to extend nearly US$4 billion to three FLNG projects offshore Africa. In addition, the Chinese plan to both finance and build production platforms for two more FLNG plants off Africa’s shores, worth a total of US$3 billion, Reuters’ sources say.

According to bankers, Chinese banks have “very deep pockets” and differ in their lending strategies from the Western banks.

“The difference is that in the West banks lend at the top of the market when they have most liquidity, but in China they're smarter and put money in at the bottom,” a financier who advises Chinese lenders on LNG shipping deals told Reuters.

China is also involved in the conventional Yamal LNG project in Russia’s Arctic, in which China’s CNPC and Silk Road Fund hold a 20 percent stake and 9.9 percent stake respectively. Chinese banks have provided two 15-year credit line facilities for the total amount of US$10.4 billion (9.3 billion euro) and US$1.43 billion (9.8 billion Chinese yuan). The financing from the Chinese banks is part of the project finance package totaling the equivalent of US$18.4 billion, says Yamal LNG, whose first production is scheduled for this year.

Read the full article at http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-N...nvest-7B-In-Floating-LNG-Offshore-Africa.html
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World’s First FLNG Undocked in Nantong

The Caribbean FLNG project, which is expected to be the world’s first operational FLNG facility, is being delivered by Wison Offshore & Marine (Wison, 惠生海工) at its yard in Nantong under an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract with EXMAR. The unit comprises a non-propelled barge that will be operated off the Caribbean coast of Colombia for Pacific Rubiales Energy and equipped to convert 72.0 million scf/d of natural gas into LNG (+/- 500,000 tons of LNG per annum) for temporary storage and export.

Floating LNG liquefaction and storage (FLNG) facilities are expected to significantly reduce the cost and time required to monetize and deliver gas to market. The result will be broader use of natural gas globally, a key component of the world’s need for a balanced energy portfolio.

Read the full article at http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/143740/worlds-first-flng-undocked-in-nantong/

Posted on November 19, 2014
__________________________________________________________________________

Wison completes Caribbean FLNG tests, produces first LNG

Exmar’s natural gas floating liquefaction unit (FLNG) produced the first LNG during the performance tests carried out at the Wison Offshore & Marine’s yard in Nantong, China.

Read the full article at http://www.lngworldnews.com/wison-completes-caribbean-flng-tests-produces-first-lng/

Posted on September 28, 2016

 

[cirr]

China unveils domestic marine research vessel in Guangdong

2017-06-29 09:35

Xinhua Editor: Gu Liping

China Wednesday unveiled a new domestically built marine geological survey vessel in south China's Guangdong Province.

Haiyang Dizhi-10 (Ocean Geology 10) enters the water after the launches of Haiyang Dizhi-8 and Haiyang Dizhi-9 in February.

Haiyang Dizhi-10 is 75.8 meters long and 15.4 meters wide with a displacement of 3,400 tonnes. The vessel has a range of 8,000 nautical miles.

"The new ship will be a great boost to China's marine exploration capability," said Zhong Ziran, director of China Geological Survey.

China now has six marine geological research vessels in service, with plans to put Haiyang Dizhi-10, Haiyang Dizhi-8 and Haiyang Dizhi-9 into active service by the end of the year.

http://www.ecns.cn/2017/06-29/263370.shtml

 

[JSCh]

China's new domestically built marine geological survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi-10 (Ocean Geology 10) is seen in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, June 26, 2017. The new marine geological survey vessel was unveiled in Dongguan on Wednesday. It enters the water after the launches of Haiyang Dizhi-8 and Haiyang Dizhi-9 in February. Haiyang Dizhi-10 is 75.8 meters long and 15.4 meters wide with a displacement of 3,400 tonnes. The vessel has a range of 8,000 nautical miles. (Xinhua/Huang Guobao)http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0629/c90000-9234720-2.html

​

 

[cirr]

MOL inks $750m order for four LNG carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua

Posted 30 June 2017



Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has ordered four LNG carriers at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding on the back of a long term charter contract for the Yamal project developed by Russia’s Gazprom.

The four new LNG carriers of 174,000 cu m in capacity each are priced at $749.5m, with planned delivers from the subsidiary yard of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) in 2019 and 2020.

The latest order by MOL has boosted Hudong-Zhonghua’s current LNG carrier orderbook to 11.

The Chinese shipbuilder said the four LNG carriers will be incorporated with dual-fuel engines and environmentally friendly features that will reduce fuel consumption by 16% compared to conventional models.

Hudong-Zhonghua has claimed to be China’s leading builder of LNG carriers, and has thus far delivered 13 LNG vessels.

http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ne...for-four-lng-carriers-at-hudong-zhonghua.html