China’s Largest Containerships Increase in Size

CSSC Shipping has decided to enlarge the capacity of its three 16,000 teu ships ordered at Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry, which came under the management of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) this year, to 18,000 teu, according to SinoShip News.

With this decision China will continue keeping up with the South Korean shipyards with respect to construction of sea giants, since these vessels will be  the largest container ships built in China to date.

One will be built at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) yard, and the other two at Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry.

Upon delivery slated for mid of 2015, the ships will be chartered out to French operator CMA CGM.

The design of the carriers was developed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC) in co-operation with Bureau Veritas, that will be in charge of their classification.

The vessels will have an overall length of 399 m, a beam of 54 m, and a draft of 16 m. Special consideration has been given to hydroelastic design (whipping and springing) issues, which are very important for this size of ships.

The ships will be able to operate at a maximum speed of over 23 knots with a single-screw propeller directly coupled to a 69 Megawatt, 2-stroke electronic engine. The vessels’ environmentally friendly profile is attested to by BV’s class notations CLEANSHIP and FORS.

Steel cutting for the new vessels is due to begin next year.

[mappress]
Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, December 13, 2013