DNV to class China?s largest tankers

DNV has been contracted to class two new VLCCs for Bergesen World-Wide Shipping. The newbuildings will be built at Bohai Shipyard and will the largest tankers ever built in China as well as being the first built there to follow the common structural rules. BW will take delivery in 2009 and 2010.

The specifications for the ships were jointly developed between BW Tankers, Bohai Shipyard, part of the CSIC Shipbuilding Group, and DNV. Bj?rn K. Haugland, DNV Maritime?s regional manager for the Greater China area, said “These ships will have a groundbreaking new vessel design and are the first set of VLCCs in China with the new common structural rules for double hull oil tankers due to be effective April 1 this year.”

DNV will accelerate expansion in China by adding offices and training facilities as the country assumes an increasingly important role in the construction of high-end vessels.

The Norwegian class society plans to open an office in Ningbo later this month to tap the potential in Zhejiang Province, where new shipyards are planned around Ningbo and Zhoushan Island – including what will become the world’s biggest ship repair base. Last year it opened an office in Beijing and recently opened an office in Nantong in Jiangsu Province.