China has made substantial breakthroughs in shipbuilding as the
first liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship made in China, one of the
most advanced in the world, will be delivered in September.
Only the Republic of Korea, Japan and a few European countries
have acquired the technologies to build such ocean liners.
Since natural gas can only be turned into the liquefied after
the temperature dropped below minus 163 degrees Celsius, LNG ships
are often dubbed as the "maritime super freezer".
The boat with a capacity of 47,200 cubic meters is under
construction by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of
the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), China's top and
the world's third largest shipping group.
Another four such LNG vessels also under construction would be
delivered in the end of this year while the research and
development for LNG ships with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters
is underway, sources with the CSSC said.
The Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company, one of its
subsidiaries, is going to deliver a floating, production, storage
and offloading vessel to the United States-headquartered oil giant
ConocoPhilips in May.
The vessel with a designed capacity of 300,000 tons is the
largest and most costly vessel of its kind in China.
The CSSC will also deliver in September a 8,530 TEU container
vessel and a dredger with a capacity of 13,500 cubic meters in May,
both the largest of its kind in China.
The CSSC, parent company of 60 subsidiaries covering ship
building, ship repair, research and development and offshore
engineering, posted a profit of more than 5 billion yuan last year,
more than 60 times that of 1999 when it was established.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2007)