China's specialised ship fleets are growing

China's merchant fleet is not only growing with container ships, but also increasingly in specialised segments. For example, the Chinese company Guangzhou Salvage has strengthened its fleet with the semi-submersible newbuild "Hua Rui Long" built by the shipyard China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) in Haimen. Equipped with DP2 technology for dynamic positioning, the 252 metre long and 60 metre wide special vessel has a tonnage of 74,226 GT and a carrying capacity of 82,000 tdw. The free deck area for transporting heavy and bulky goods, such as drilling rigs or dredgers, is given as 151,000 square metres and can be loaded with 90 tonnes per square metre. There is space on board for up to 52 people.

New buildings for the Chinese wind farms, graphic: Ulstein

And Shanghai Electric Wind Power has awarded Schulte Marine Concept, the newbuild division of the Hamburg-based Bernhard Schulte Group, the contract for the design review and construction supervision of two Service Operation Vessels (SOV). The two newbuildings have been specially developed for the Chinese offshore wind industry by the Norwegian offshore specialist Ulstein. They will be built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) with delivery scheduled for late 2023/early 2024. The new SOVs are intended to improve the efficiency of maintenance work in Chinese offshore wind farms and reduce their carbon footprint at the same time. To this end, they will be equipped with a diesel-electric hybrid drive system with battery storage.