building a world-class ultra-large ore carrier brand, the shipbuilding institute has received a total of 83 orders
2024-09-08
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
the picture shows a 400,000-ton smart ore carrier/provided by the interviewee
recently, the shanghai ship research and design institute under china state shipbuilding corporation limited formally signed a contract for six 325,000-ton very large ore carriers (vlocs) designed and developed for winning international group and built by hengli heavy industry group co., ltd. so far, shanghai ship research and design institute has received a total of 83 orders for the design of very large ore carriers of 300,000 tons or more, with a domestic and international market share of 85% and 61% respectively, making it a standout and well-known overseas, and forming a world brand of the chinese ship green dolphin vloc series with significant characteristics such as "green, environmental protection, energy saving, intelligence, and safety".
vloc is a niche ship type, a special ship designed for transporting bulk ore, but it plays an important role in the shipping industry. with its high cargo capacity and economical and efficient transportation method, it supports the development of global mining and steel industries.
market demand oriented
with the rapid development of china's economy, china has become the world's largest importer of iron ore since 2003. the supply of iron ore basically comes from australia, brazil and india. based on the careful analysis of the new development trend of the global ore shipping market and relying on the strong civil ship design strength, shanghai ship design institute resolutely entered the vloc design field.
starting from scratch, starting with a converted ship. in 2006, after market bidding, shanghai shipbuilding institute won the design order to convert a large single-hull oil tanker into a 236,000-ton vloc, thus entering the vloc design field.
through comprehensive and detailed feasibility analysis and optimized redesign of the overall layout, ship structure and ballast system of the modified ship, and successfully passing the actual ship operation inspection, this oil tanker that was about to be eliminated was reborn and won unanimous praise from the shipowner.
this world-first modification and upgrading project not only demonstrated the profound design foundation and comprehensive strength of the shanghai shipbuilding institute, established confidence and laid the foundation for the institute to independently develop and design vloc, but also created considerable economic benefits for shipowners. it can be said to be the best of both worlds and a win-win cooperation.
new orders are coming in
in 2007, vale, a brazilian iron ore supplier, planned to order a 400,000-ton vloc specifically for the china-pakistan route. after receiving the task, the ore carrier r&d team of the shanghai shipbuilding institute conducted a special investigation on all large ore terminals in china and pakistan to fully grasp the accurate data of ports and waterways. after strict scientific demonstration and rigorous optimization, the design of this type of ship was unanimously recognized by the shipowner and the lessee. the following year, jiangsu rongsheng heavy industries group signed a contract with vale of brazil to build 12 400,000-ton vlocs. the contract was priced at us$1.6 billion, making it the largest single contract in the history of world shipbuilding at the time.
the 400,000-ton vloc excellent ship type independently developed by the shanghai shipbuilding institute is the largest ship type suitable for the china-pakistan route and is affectionately called chinamax by the industry. it has not only won the attention and approval of the industry, but also attracted new shipowners to come. the senior management of oman shipping company flew to shanghai and signed a construction order for 4 ships with the shipyard.
the successful construction of the first batch of 16 ships of this type has significantly reduced the unit transportation cost of iron ore on the china-pakistan route, and has made the shanghai shipbuilding institute's reputation in the global vloc design field increasingly high.
new ship types emerge in an endless stream
relying on its rich ship type spectrum and strong experience in ore carrier design, the shanghai shipbuilding institute strives for excellence to make this new member of the dolphin series more reliable in structure, more flexible in loading and unloading, and more economical in operation, achieving sustainable innovation and iteration.
the successful development and construction of 230,000-ton and 400,000-ton vlocs have established china's position as a global vloc design and construction center. the shanghai shipbuilding institute has increased its efforts in technological innovation and has launched a series of ships, including the largest 262,000-ton vloc in western australia and a 300,000-ton vloc that can accommodate both western australian and brazilian ports. it has received orders for 16 ships and achieved full coverage of the entire series.
in 2015, a total of 30 second-generation 400,000-ton vloc super-large orders were successfully signed. it is particularly worth mentioning that this type of ship was also awarded the csa-2 (hull limit and fatigue hydrodynamic analysis) class symbol by dnv. this is the first time that my country has independently conducted the highest level of finite element analysis of ships, breaking the foreign monopoly. through csa-2 calculation and analysis, the fatigue strength and ultimate strength of the entire ship can be analyzed in detail, making vloc safer and more reliable. through unremitting efforts, the ore carrier design team of the shanghai shipyard completed all calculations in one year and accumulated valuable experience. in the subsequent 325,000-ton vloc order, it took only 3 months to complete all the required calculations, saving the shipyard a lot of construction waiting time.
in 2017, vale needed to order a batch of vlocs for the china-pakistan route. the lessor vale and the shipowner finally selected shanghai ship institute as the r&d and design party for the largest 325,000-ton vloc in guaíba port. this batch of ships received 28 orders. shanghai ship institute designed and installed a bubble drag reduction system for this series of ships, and carried out research on the modification and application of lng fuel and methanol fuel to form a plan for the shipowner to choose in the future. it is particularly worth mentioning that before one of the ships was put into operation, shanghai ship institute specially designed and installed 5 rotary sails for it, which can reduce 3,400 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
in 2018, as the first of four demonstration application ships of the ministry of industry and information technology's "smart ship 1.0" research and development project, the world's first 400,000-ton smart vloc "mingyuan" was endowed with "great wisdom" and obtained the smart ship additional notation from dnv and china classification society (ccs).
in 2023, shanghai shipbuilding institute launched the world's first 325,000-ton methanol dual-fuel powered vloc optimized for bauxite and successfully received an order. this type of ship takes into account both operational reality and environmental protection requirements. the cargo hold capacity is more than 40% higher than that of traditional scale ore carriers, and the low wave resistance line type improves the overall performance by more than 5%. considering the traditional route of the brazilian iron ore terminal, it also takes into account the unique requirements of the guinea terminal in west africa, and uses methanol as the main fuel for alternative energy.
from 230,000 tons, 260,000 tons, 300,000 tons, 325,000 tons to 400,000 tons, the green dolphin vloc series independently developed and designed by shanghai shipbuilding institute has formed a full range of coverage from small to large, from conventional, green to intelligent. among them, the first and second generation 400,000-ton vloc, the first generation 325,000-ton vloc and the 300,000-ton vloc were selected as the annual outstanding ship types of the royal institution of naval architects.
xinmin evening news reporter ye wei, correspondent he baoxin, wu xiaokang
