November 10, Qingdao Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base, a busy scene at CSSC Beihai Shipbuilding. Photo by Zhang Jingang.
On October 31, CSSC Beihai Shipbuilding, jointly with CSSC Shipping Trading Co., Ltd., successfully signed a building contract for 2+1 210,000 DWT Ammonia-ready bulk carriers with Belgian shipping company EBE. This marks EBE’s first order for shipbuilding in China, reflecting recognition of the capabilities and standards of the Qingdao Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base.
As one of the three major shipbuilding and repair bases planned and constructed at the national level, the Qingdao Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base has formed an industrial chain focused on /repair and offshore engineering equipment manufacturing, supported by low-speed diesel engines, crankshafts, deck machinery, marine motors, and electric propulsion systems. The scale effect is increasingly evident. Currently, companies within the base have full order books and are basically operating at full capacity.
The greater significance of the EBE order lies in clean energy ships. The green and energy-saving ship type in the building contract was independently developed by CSDC Ship Design & Research Center Co., Ltd. It meets the highest standards of the International Maritime Organization’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase III and features an ammonia fuel-ready design, making technical preparations for future installation of ammonia-fueled main engines and achieving “zero-carbon” voyages.
This is a microcosm of Haixiwan continuously expanding its scale and accelerating quality and efficiency improvements. Currently, the ship and offshore engineering industry is in a critical period of transformation and upgrading. Haixiwan enterprises are promptly embracing changes, actively cultivating and strengthening new quality productive forces, and accelerating the transition towards high-end, digital, intelligent, and green low-carbon development.
Output value of 26.25 billion yuan in the first eight months of this year
The marine equipment industry is an important component of Qingdao’s “10+1” innovative industrial system and the “4+4+2” modern marine industry system. It is also one of the key industries in the West Coast New Area’s modern marine industry system and key industrial clusters, and furthermore, an important battlefield for developing new quality productive forces.
In the first eight months of this year, enterprises above the designated size on the ship and offshore engineering industry chain in the New Area achieved an output value of 26.25 billion yuan. Among them, enterprises above the designated size in the Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base achieved an output value of 17.628 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%. The industrial chain maintained a stable growth trend. Enterprises within the base are operating at full capacity, with key enterprises like Beihai Shipbuilding and CSSC Engine Co., Ltd. having order books scheduled until 2029.
On October 9, the offshore installation of the upper module for the Huizhou 25-8B drilling and production platform was fully completed. This upper module weighs 14,370 tons and is the core facility of the Huizhou 25-8 oilfield comprehensive adjustment project, laying a solid foundation for the project’s smooth commissioning.
On October 24, the barge “Offshore Oil 228” slowly departed from Haixiwan, marking the full completion of the land-based engineering for the Weizhou 11-4 CEPD platform and its entry into the offshore installation phase. The platform achieved multiple technological breakthroughs, setting new records for the size and weight of offshore oil and gas platforms in the Beibu Gulf region.
Both of these “giants” were constructed by Offshore Oil Engineering (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. As the lead enterprise of Qingdao’s marine equipment industry chain, the company completed a processing volume of 76,000 tons in the first three quarters of this year and delivered a total of 11 modules across 5 projects. According to the plan, six new projects will commence construction in the fourth quarter.
These are two examples of Haixiwan enterprises operating at full throttle. With production process equipment leading nationally, possessing an annual shipbuilding capacity of 6.68 million deadweight tons, ship repair capacity for over 200 ships, and annual offshore engineering steel processing capacity of 500,000 tons, Haixiwan holds a pivotal position in the New Area’s ship and offshore industry, which accounts for nearly 80% of the city’s total and one-third of the provincial industry’s spectrum.
Located in the West Coast New Area, which focuses on marine economic development, and seizing the historical opportunity to build a strategic stronghold for a strong maritime country, the Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base is becoming an important front, taking the lead and acting as the vanguard, forming stronger support for the economic development of the city and the district.
Continuously Enhancing Innovation and Competitiveness
Currently, the ship and offshore engineering industry is in a critical stage of transitioning towards high-end, digital, intelligent, and green low-carbon development, coupled with a super cycle of ship replacement. There is significant market demand for high-end, green, and intelligent types of ships. Haixiwan’s development is ushering in new opportunities.
CSSC Beihai Shipbuilding started construction on the first ship of a new generation of 325,000 DWT GuaibaMax methanol dual-fuel ultra-large ore carriers; CSSC Engine is focusing on the application of green new fuels, laying out production capacity for LNG, methanol, and ammonia-fueled low-speed marine engines. In recent years, the equipment manufacturing industry of the Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base has been gradually moving towards the high end, with continuous improvement in industrial innovation and competitiveness.
The move towards a high-end industry benefits first from the significant enhancement of scientific and technological innovation capabilities.
The West Coast New Area has gathered 12 major marine research institutions, including China State Shipbuilding Corporation Marine Equipment Research Institute, CSDC Ship Design & Research Center Co., Ltd. (Merchant Ship Center), and China Ocean Engineering Institute (Qingdao), as well as 12 scientific and technological innovation platforms such as the Qingdao Marine Equipment Technology Innovation Center. The Shandong Provincial Ship Industry Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community, led by the Marine Equipment Research Institute and jointly built by 62 units, has entered the stage of substantive operation. The concentration of these intellectual resources provides a solid guarantee for the innovative development of the marine equipment industry.
More stable and secure local core support makes the operation of the entire industrial chain smoother. Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Offshore Oil Engineering (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. jointly built the “Offshore Oil 119”, an offshore oil and gas super processing plant with the deepest operational water depth and the most complex functions in China; Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. signed a long-term main engine supply agreement with CSSC Engine Co., Ltd.; CSSC Engine Co., Ltd. procured large marine crankshafts from Qingdao Haixi Heavy Industry Co., Ltd…. The New Area has gathered over 100 ship and offshore engineering manufacturing and various supporting service enterprises, with increasingly close cooperative partnerships between key enterprises.
The world’s first 150,000-ton deep-sea aquaculture vessel “Guoxin 2-1”, Asia’s first cylindrical FPSO “Sea Sunflower One”, China’s first domestically produced deep-sea floating wind power platform “Offshore Oil Guanlan”, the world’s first new high-pressure dual-fuel main engine and China’s first methanol dual-fuel low-speed engine… A batch of major equipment has sailed out from Haixiwan, continuously marking the high-end manufacturing level and stature of this bay.
Building an Internationally Leading Industrial Base
How to further improve the quality and efficiency of Haixiwan’s industrial scale and build it into an internationally leading ship and offshore engineering industry base?
The answer given by the West Coast New Area is to focus on key points and make all-out efforts. It involves systematic, holistic, and coordinated planning for regional development, while simultaneously focusing on key areas and links, and comprehensively promoting the improvement of quality and efficiency in the Haixiwan and the New Area’s ship and offshore engineering industry.
In 2024, the New Area invited experts to conduct assessments and strategic planning, resulting in the “Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Development Assessment Report”, which analyzes the industry’s development opportunities and shortcomings, proposes paths for industrial quality and efficiency improvement, aiming to output greater horsepower for Haixiwan’s overall development.
Currently, the New Area is drawing on the experience and paths of clustered and park-based industrial development to further enhance the industrial agglomeration level and efficiency of Haixiwan, vigorously develop new quality productive forces, build a new ship and offshore engineering industry system with complete supporting facilities and clear tiers, accelerate the move towards the mid-to-high end of the industrial chain, and enhance the level of high-end, independent, digital, green, and international development.
The West Coast New Area will promote the transformation and upgrading of the shipbuilding industry towards high-end ship types such as green ships, ensuring the orderly construction of the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel bulk carrier and 319,000 DWT VLCC built by Beihai Shipbuilding; relying on the Shandong Provincial Marine Power Technology Innovation Center led by CSSC Engine, it will promote the transition of the marine power industry towards green power sources like LNG, methanol, and ammonia fuel. According to the plan, the goal is to achieve a proportion of green ship and offshore products exceeding 90% within the year.
While focusing on scale upgrading and industrial transformation and upgrading, the West Coast New Area is also focusing more deeply on industry-university-research cooperation to truly unleash the driving force of scientific and technological innovation. It will leverage the role of scientific research institutions, promote deep integration and connection between enterprises and research institutions, and target key technological breakthroughs in areas such as marine equipment R&D, manufacturing, maintenance, service, and key component development.
The ship and offshore engineering industry is a typical capital, technology, and labor-intensive industry, with a long order-to-delivery cycle and prominent cyclical lag characteristics. The West Coast New Area recently also specifically established the Haixiwan Ship and Offshore Engineering Industry Base Joint Conference, using a unified mechanism, common platform, and professional team to strengthen services for enterprises and institutes, and speed up the quality and efficiency improvement of the Haixiwan ship and offshore engineering industry.
Currently, the Haixiwan ship and offshore engineering industry is expanding from a manufacturing focus to upstream and downstream areas such as design, sales, operation, and maintenance services, forming a new pattern where high-end products lead industrial development and growth.
