Asia Times
SHANGHAI - China looks set to follow the route two other Asian countries did to herald their arrival as industrial powers - become a shipbuilding power. Leading the charge has been China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), one of the country's two major shipbuilding companies.
"We plan to boost our output to 4.36 million dwt [deadweight tons] in 2005 to ensure we meet our goal to be in the world's top five," said Chen Xiaojin, CSSC's general manager. Last year, the yards run by CSSC turned out 3.57 million dwt, up 64.5% over the previous year's total - most of which were for exports.
Looking forward, by 2010 the group aims to be in the global top three and hopes to be No 1 by 2015 - propelling China's shipbuilding industry and China itself to becoming the world's largest shipbuilder. Chinese yards already are at a degree of technical proficiency that orients them for being quality, not just volume, suppliers.
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd, one of the jewels in CSSC's crown, has just signed a deal with ConocoPhilips China Inc to build a 300,000 dwt floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The contract is worth US$230 million - the most expensive ship and also the largest FPSO China has ever built.
FPSOs, besides being able to load and process raw crude and store and offload stabilized crude, can also serve as production units for offshore oil and gas exploration projects. This one, due to be delivered in early 2007, will have a storage capacity of 2 million barrels.
No comments:
Post a Comment