I'm ex-Navy and love an excuse for the country to build up the fleet.
Greater China
Jun 7, 2005
Ground broken for huge Shanghai shipyard
BEIJING - Construction started on Friday on what will become the world's largest shipyard, marking a major step forward in China's ambition to become the world's leading shipbuilder.
In the first phase of the US$3.6 billion project, the Jiangnan Shipyard Corp, a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), is relocating to Changxing Island to make way for Shanghai Expo 2010. The Jiangnan Shipyard will expand its shipbuilding capacity from the current 800,000 deadweight tons (DWT) a year to 4.5 million by 2010. The yard's first ship is expected to be delivered by 2009.
In the second phase of development, CSSC's subsidiaries, such as Hudong and Waigaoqiao, will add more yards along Changxing island's eight-kilometer coastline. By 2015, CSCC is expected to have an annual capacity of 8 million DWTs, half of China's current production capacity. By then, Changxing is expected to have become the world's largest shipyard. Shanghai will also become the world's largest shipbuilding base, tripling its capacity to 12 million DWTs by 2015. "The central government has called on China to become the largest shipbuilder in the world. The Changxing base is the most important step forward in this plan," said CSSC General Manager Chen Xiaojin on Friday.
The shipbuilding industry is valuable to the Chinese government since it promotes domestic manufacturing and machinery industries, creates job opportunities and revenue, and improves the country's naval capability. The country's shipbuilding industry has achieved an annual average growth of 17% over the past few years and China now accounts for a quarter of the world's shipbuilding market, up from less than 5% five years ago. Japan and South Korea each account for one-third of the global shipbuilding market. "With the construction of Changxing, we are breathing down the necks of Japan and South Korea," Xu Lunfang, senior engineer at CSSC's Chengxi Shipyard, said. "The market competition is set to intensify."
Chen said the Changxing yard offers CSSC an unprecedented opportunity to develop its business, as the global shipbuilding market is still expanding. The yard will also increase Chinese production of high-tech and high-value-added ships, including liquefied natural gas carriers and oil supertankers.
Friday also witnessed the 140th anniversary of the Jiangnan Shipyard. The yard was founded in 1865, during the former Qing Dynasty, and was the first factory in China to produce steel, naval ships and steel cannon. Previously known as Jiangnan Machine Manufacturing, it was renamed Jiangnan Shipbuilding Works in 1912. Also known as the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works, in the 1920s the shipyard built six new river gunboats to replace old gunboats on the Yangtze for the US Navy's South China Patrol. In the closing days of World War II, the docks at Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works were used to repair US Navy ships. The facility was renamed the Jiangnan Shipyard in 1949. In 1996 the yard was transformed into the solely state-owned Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Company Limited.
The yard is regarded as cradle of China's national shipping industry. With more than 130 years experience in developing and building various kinds of merchant ships, Jiangnan has successfully delivered to its customers in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia a large variety of highly sophisticated vessels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, car carriers, crab ships, refrigerated ships, crude oil tankers, Panamax bulk carriers, Handymax bulk carriers, lake-suitable bulk carriers, multi-purpose cargo ships, fast-feeder container ships, and others. LNG carriers, in particular, have become one of the major products of the shipyard in the past years. The prices of these special ships with high-technology features are two to three times greater than those of a normal vessel of the same tonnage. Of the total value (US$17.9 billion) created by China Shipping Industry General Corp in 1995, that from Shanghai Shipping Industry Corp (SSI) accounted for 50%.
Apart from new ship construction, Jiangnan Shipyard has specific divisions specializing in manufacturing pressurized tanks for LNG carriers, large steel structures for civil engineering, a variety of mechanical and electrical equipment, non-standard equipment, pressure containers, and port machinery. The shipyard has been certified for the ISO 9001 quality standards by the relevant authorities within China.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)
You can say the same for U.S. carriers. Besides, in all my time at sea I can't remember a totally calm day.