Jiangnan starts construction of new yard

Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard will start construction of a new shipyard on the city’s Changxing Island early next month, when the company will be celebrating its 140th anniversary. When completed, the new Jiangnan Shipyard will stretch 4.5 kilometers on the island’s southwest waterfront.

The four docks of the first phase, for which construction is expected to be completed by 2010, will be able to build a total yearly tonnage of 3 million. The second phase, which is scheduled to be finished in 2015, will bring the total yearly capacity up to 4.5 million tons.

Preparatory construction for the new shipyard started at the end of 2003, part of a shipyard plan announced by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), Jiangnan Shipyard’s parent company, in August that year to create a platform for its shipyards and wharfs. The plan requires an investment of between 20 billion yuan ($2.42 billion) and 30 billion yuan and will take eight to 10 years to complete.

The new shipyard will help to increase Shanghai’s shipbuilding capacity from the current 3 million tons to 12 million tons by 2015 while the increased shipbuilding capacity will also help boost related industries like steel and engine manufacturing, and will create job opportunities for more than 700,00 people, CSSC said.