Editor's note:In 2023, China achieved eye-catching performance in the shipbuilding sector, with solid progress in producing liquefied natural gas tankers, container vessels and high-end ships, making huge strides to become a world powerhouse in the field.
With the delivery of its first homemade cruise ship, Adora Magic City, China has become the only country in the world to have mastered building an aircraft carrier, a large liquefied natural gas carrier and a large cruise ship.
Let's take a look at some of the achievements that China's ship companies have made in 2023.
Work proceeds on giant ships at Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, which has more than 20,000 employees and is located on Changxing Island in Shanghai. [Photo/China News Service]
Three key shipbuilding indicators
China has maintained its top position in the global shipbuilding market in the first 11 months of 2023, with strong growth in both output and new orders, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The country's shipbuilding output climbed 12.3 percent year-on-year to 38.09 million deadweight tons (dwt) during the January-November period, accounting for 50.1 percent of the world's total.
New orders surged 63.8 percent year-on-year to 64.85 million dwt, taking up 65.9 percent of the world's total during the period.
The sector's holding orders totaled 134.09 million dwt at the end of November, expanding 29.4 percent year-on-year. The volume represented 53.4 percent of the global market share.
China's first domestically made large cruise ship
Adora Magic City is delivered in Shanghai on Nov 4, 2023. [Photo provided to China Daily]
China's first homegrown large cruise ship delivered
China's first domestically made large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, was delivered to its operator in Shanghai on Nov 4. The delivery of its first homemade cruise ship has made China the only country in the world to have mastered building an aircraft carrier, a large liquefied natural gas carrier and a large cruise ship
The ship, which is 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide, can accommodate a maximum of 5,246 guests with 2,125 guest rooms, said China State Shipbuilding Corporation Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co, the shipbuilder. Equipped with a living and entertainment area spanning 40,000 square meters, the vessel is a modern city on the sea.
A ceremony celebrates the first sea trial of ultradeep-water drilling ship
Meng Xiang at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding yard in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Dec 18, 2023. QIU HAIJIE/FOR CHINA DAILY
China's first ultradeep-water drilling ship starts sea trial
China's first ultradeep-water research drilling vessel Meng Xiang started its trial voyage on Dec 18, marking a crucial step in the nation's construction of deep-sea exploration capabilities and the research and development of marine technology.
The vessel is designed by China State Shipbuilding Corp. It is being built by Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of CSSC.
The 33,000-metric-ton vessel is 179.8 meters long and 32.8 meters wide, with a range of 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers), and is capable of withstanding a super typhoon that has a wind speed of 52 meters per second. It can drill up to 11,000 meters below sea level.
Sanxia Qingzhou 1 (Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No 1) cruises on the Yangtze River on Oct 11, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
China's first hydrogen-powered vessel completes maiden voyage
China's first hydrogen-powered ship, Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1, sailed its maiden voyage on the Yichang section of the Yangtze River in Hubei province on Oct 11, and was then delivered to its operator, China Yangtze Power, a State-owned hydropower company.
The electric catamaran is 49.9 meters long, 10.4 meters wide and can accommodate 80 passengers and crew. It can reach a maximum speed of 28 kilometers per hour and can travel about 200 km when sailing at a cruising speed of 20 km/h.
An illustration of the large nuclear-powered container ship, which can carry 24,000 standard containers. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Design for nuclear-powered ship unveiled
China unveiled a conceptual design for what could potentially become the world's largest nuclear-powered container ship on Dec 5.
The vessel, which has yet to be named, will be powered by molten salt reactors and will have the capacity to carry 24,000 standard containers.
The conceptual design, made by China State Shipbuilding Corp's Jiangnan Shipyard, earned an Approval in Principle certificate from the DNV, one of the world's leading classification societies.
Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co delivers the hull and living quarters for the
Bacalhau, which is the world's first M350 floating, production, storage and offloading vessel, on May 26, 2023. [PHOTO/CHINA DAILY]
World's first M350 FPSO vessel delivered
The hull and living quarters of the Bacalhau — the world's first M350 floating, production, storage and offloading vessel — were delivered on May 26 at the Changxingdao shipyard in Dalian, Liaoning province, marking a breakthrough for the Chinese shipbuilding industry.
The vessel has been jointly designed and built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, a subsidiary of State-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, and FPSO contractor Modec for international energy company Equinor, which is headquartered in Norway.
The M350 FPSO features a hull about 350 meters long. The new vessel's material scale and scale parameters make it the largest in the world, with a total length of 364 meters, a beam of 64 meters and a depth of 33 meters.
A photo shows
MSC NOA ARIEILA, the largest container vessel in South China, being delivered for use in Nansha district of Guangzhou on July 24, 2023. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Largest container vessel in South China delivered for use
An environmentally friendly container transport vessel — MSC NOA ARIEILA — was delivered for use in Nansha district of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on July 24, demonstrating China's shipbuilding strength and technology.
The ship, jointly built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Co Ltd and China Shipbuilding Trading Co Ltd, is 366 meters long and 51 meters wide. With a full load of 16,616 twenty-foot equivalent units, it is the largest container transport vessel built in the southern Chinese region.
It is also the first of eight container vessels GSI and China Shipbuilding are building for Mediterranean Shipping Co SA, the world's largest container shipping company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Crew members take pictures together before the unveiling of gas carrier
Harzand at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on April 25, 2023. GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY
World's biggest ship for gas transport unveiled
The world's biggest very large gas carrier (VLGC) was unveiled on April 25 in Shanghai, a day ahead of its delivery to Singaporean owner Petredec Global by Chinese manufacturer Jiangnan Shipyard.
The vessel, capable of carrying up to 93,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas, complies with the latest regulations and requirements on emissions in light of eco-friendly concerns, according to Jiangnan Shipyard, subsidiary of the world's largest shipbuilder China State Shipbuilding Corp.
Named Harzand, the vessel is 230 meters long and 36.6 meters wide. It is the first of the fourth-generation VLGC-type ship independently developed and designed by Jiangnan Shipyard. In addition, it is the world's largest dual-fuel liquefied petroleum gas powered VLGC.
Dapeng Princess, the world's largest liquefied natural gas carrier to navigate shallow waterways, is delivered on Feb 18, 2023. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
World's largest LNG carrier to navigate shallow waterways delivered
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, the nation's leading builder of liquefied natural gas carriers, delivered an 80,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier to Shenzhen Gas Co on Feb 18. The vessel, known as Dapeng Princess, is the world's largest LNG carrier to navigate shallow waterways.
The carrier, at 239 meters long and 36.6 meters wide, has a load draft of less than 8.5 meters, the shallowest of its kind in the world, enabling it to navigate both rivers and shallow seas. It can travel down the Yangtze River and Pearl River basins even during the dry season.
Hudong-Zhonghua also delivered the Kunlun, one of the fourth-generation Changxing series LNG carriers on March 24. The carrier, capable of carrying up to 174,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas, is nearly 300 meters long, 45 meters wide and about 26 meters high.
