2 ships in 2 days delivered to COSCO

A new semi-submersible vessel built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company for COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers Co was named the Xin Yao Hua and delivered for use after a naming ceremony on Wednesday.

The vessel is 255 meters long and 57 meters wide, with a dead weight of 80,000 metric tons. It is the second-largest semi-submersible vessel that has been built in the country and is a bench mark in the country’s marine industry, GSI said.

The vessel is designed for speeds of up to 14.5 knots, equivalent to 26.54 kilometers per hour. The deck is 210 meters long and 57 meters wide, close to the size of two standard soccer pitches.

Dubbed by some as the "Hercules forklift at sea", the vessel can lower its deck into the water through the adjustment of its own ballast water, and lift cargo from the designated position to complete the loading.

The vessel is mainly used to transport super large equipment that cannot be disassembled, including offshore engineering platforms, oil and gas exploitation modules, large wind power equipment and even ships.

A new luxury ro-ro passenger vessel built by GSI for COSCO Shipping Ferry Co was named Xiang Long Dao and delivered on Tuesday.

At 208 meters long and 28.6 meters wide, the high-standard Ropax vessel is designed for 1,375 passengers and more than 500 vehicles. In addition to guest rooms, it includes bars, cinemas, chess and card rooms, gyms, KTV rooms, a 120-square-meter supermarket, conference halls and an outdoor barbeque restaurant.

The domestically designed Xiang Long Dao, which has been equipped with advanced technologies and equipment, will operate between Dalian in Liaoning provinces and the city of Yantai in Shandong province, further improving capacity and raising the service standard of marine routes in Bohai Bay.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn