On August 19, the steel cutting ceremony for the first ship, H1943A, of the 13,600TEU large container ship series built by Hudong-Zhonghua for Seaspan was held at the cutting area of the Manufacturing Division II in the western plant area.
Distinguished guests attending the commencement ceremony included Su Xiaohua, Project Manager from Seaspan’s Asset Management Department; Nan Xiangfu, Leader of the On-site Supervision Team; Tsonos Illias, Operations Support Manager for DNV’s Southern China Region; Liu Xuedong, Chief Builder of Container Ships at Hudong-Zhonghua; and Shi Weixing, Director of the Technical Center, among other leaders.
The 13,600TEU large container ship is another green and environmentally friendly container vessel independently developed and designed by Hudong-Zhonghua. It has an overall length of about 336 meters, a molded breadth of 51 meters, a molded depth of 30.2 meters, a maximum container capacity of 14,132 TEU, and provides 2,000 reefer container slots. The design incorporates the latest concepts and is equipped with a scrubber and energy-saving devices. It can meet the owner’s future needs for green fuel conversion, ensuring low energy consumption, high speed, and green environmental performance. These characteristics make it fully compliant with the most stringent international environmental regulations, providing customers with an efficient and economical maritime transportation solution.
This project comprises 6 ships and adopts offshore RMB settlement, which is of great significance for advancing the internationalization of the RMB. Responding to the national call, Hudong-Zhonghua is strengthening friendly relations with various partners and actively promoting the internationalization of the RMB on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, reflecting a high sense of social responsibility and a deep understanding and support of national policies. Using RMB for settlement will help the company reduce exchange rate risks, enhance profitability, and improve market competitiveness. It is also beneficial for the shipowner to lower financing costs and increase trade efficiency.
The Manufacturing Division II, the leading department for block construction of this ship, stated that guided by the goal of improving lean management, it would抽调 (transfer) technical骨干 (backbones) to form a project team before the ship’s commencement. They will meticulously and effectively advance production and technical preparation work, draw on the experience of building large container ships, adhere to a quality-first principle, and vigorously promote the application of new processes and technologies in the construction of this vessel.
As a leading global enterprise in container ship construction, Hudong-Zhonghua focuses on shipowners’ needs, intensifies technological innovation, uses lean management as a tool to continuously shorten dock cycles, and enhances out-of-dock completeness. It strives to deliver the highest quality products and provide the most comprehensive services to shipowners, achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
