Picking the "Pearl on the Crown" of the Shipbuilding Industry - One of the Highlights of China's High Quality Development - China | Cruise | China
BEIJING, August 18th (Xinhua) -- Picking the "Pearl on the Crown" of the Shipbuilding Industry - One of the Highlights of China's High Quality Development
Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Quan and Jia Yuankun
Large cruise ships and liquefied natural gas transport ships, due to their extremely difficult design and construction, are known as the "three jewels in the crown" of the shipbuilding industry, alongside aircraft carriers. The ability to build such ships is a concentrated reflection of a country's industrial strength and technological level.
With the successful completion of the first trial voyage of China's first large-scale cruise ship, China's shipbuilding industry is about to officially gather the "three pearls". The successful construction of more and more high-end ship types has become the best footnote for the high-quality development of China's shipbuilding industry.
Building a "gold industry floating on the golden waterway"
The Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Terminal, with a length of 323.6 meters, a height of 24 floors, and a total weight of 135500 tons, quietly docks here, like a "sea city".
This is China's first large-scale cruise ship built by China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao. The project started in October 2019, will be completed in June 2023, and is expected to be delivered by the end of 2023.
"Due to its long industrial chain and strong driving force, the cruise industry is known as the 'golden industry floating on the golden waterway'." Chen Gang, General Manager of China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and Chief Designer of Large Cruise Projects, said that a large cruise ship can create more than 5000 job opportunities with just its final assembly and construction, and the proportion of cruise ship manufacturing driving economic development can reach 1:14.
A large cruise ship is truly a giant system engineering, taking the Aida Modu as an example, with a total of 25 million parts on board. The large volume of engineering, high technical difficulty, and complex supply chain coordination make the design and construction of large cruise ships extremely difficult, and have long been monopolized by a few European shipyards.
To this end, China has organized dozens of units to carry out technological research and breakthroughs in key technologies such as weight center of gravity, vibration noise, and safe return to port, as well as 22 process difficulties such as thin plate welding deformation control, effectively ensuring the smooth progress of China's first large-scale cruise ship construction.
In August 2022, the construction of the second domestically produced large cruise ship began, marking an important step towards the mass and series construction of large cruise ships in China.
"China is gradually forming a set of local standards and technical systems for cruise ships, which will strongly support the development of China's cruise industry and lay a solid foundation for achieving complete independent design and construction of cruise ships," said Chen Gang.
Iterative Innovation to Enhance the International Competitiveness of "Made in China" Large LNG Transport Ships
The busy scene at the Chinese shipbuilding dock in Shanghai East China did not affect the enthusiasm for production due to the hot weather. Here, 12 large LNG transport ships of different types are under construction.
Large LNG transport ships are internationally recognized as high-tech, high value-added, and highly reliable vessels. This type of ship is called a "sea super freezer" and needs to create a liquefied natural gas storage environment below minus 163 degrees Celsius. At the same time, it also needs to ensure that there is no leakage during long-distance transportation when encountering waves, extreme weather, and other situations. Due to its extremely difficult construction, it was once monopolized by foreign countries for a long time.
In 1997, Shanghai East China launched the development of a large LNG transport ship. After more than 10 years of intelligent research and development, a series of key core technologies were overcome, and the first large LNG transport ship in China was successfully delivered in 2008. Over the next 10 years, Chinese shipbuilding enterprises persisted in independent research and development, continuously iterating and updating related technologies.
At present, China has formed multiple large LNG transport ship construction enterprise clusters, mainly consisting of Shanghai East China, Dashan Heavy Industry, Jiangnan Shipbuilding, China Merchants Haimen, and Jiangsu Yangtze River Shipbuilding Industry. "China's large LNG transport ships have made significant progress in catching up and innovating, continuously narrowing the gap with international peers," said Song Wei, Chief Engineer of Hudong China.
According to data from the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, in 2022, China's global order share for large LNG transport ships exceeded 30%, reaching a historic high; From January to July 2023, China undertook 18 large LNG transport ships, accounting for 35% of the global total, and its market share further increased.
"The achievement has broken the monopoly of a few countries' builders on most of the global large LNG transport ship construction market, and opened a new stage of global full competition and development in this field," said Li Yanqing, Secretary General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association.
Assisting the high-quality development of the shipbuilding industry with high-end and intelligent technology
The breakthroughs in the field of large cruise ships and large LNG transport ships are a microcosm of the high-quality development of China's shipbuilding industry.
On August 14th, in Nansha, Guangzhou, a dual fuel truck transport ship capable of carrying 7000 cars departed from the dock and set sail for sea trials. This is a truck transport ship built by China Shipbuilding International for a Norwegian shipping company. At present, Guangzhou Shipbuilding International holds orders for 25 car transport ships.
Zhou Xuhui, Deputy General Manager of China Shipbuilding International, introduced that Guangzhou Shipbuilding International has conquered a series of key technologies in the construction of automotive transport ships, quickly entered this rapidly growing market, and opened up new profit growth points for the development of the enterprise.
According to data from the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, from January to June 2023, China's shipbuilding completion volume, new orders received, and handheld orders increased comprehensively; The number of high-tech and high value-added ships being built and delivered has significantly increased. A series of high-end ship types and marine engineering equipment, such as the 22000 cubic meter ultra large ethylene transport ship and the world's first M350 floating production storage and unloading oil ship, have been successfully delivered.
In addition, Chinese shipping companies are also vigorously promoting the digital transformation of shipbuilding.
In the intelligent manufacturing demonstration workshop of China Merchants Industrial Haimen Base, advanced intelligent production equipment and systems such as automated steel conveying systems and laser welding robots are operating efficiently and orderly. "The production efficiency of the intelligent manufacturing demonstration workshop has increased by more than 20% compared to traditional models," said Mei Zhonghua, General Manager of China Merchants Industrial Haimen Base.
"Capability advantage is currently the biggest advantage of China's shipbuilding industry. Our independent design and supporting facilities are increasing, and our level of digital intelligence and engineer skills are constantly improving." Li Yanqing said that in the future, China's shipbuilding industry will further accelerate its green and intelligent transformation, and continuously promote the optimization and upgrading of manufacturing capabilities.
