Wärtsilä advances Chinese joint venture

Strategic cooperation agreements were signed between CWEC and the Hudong Zhonghau and Shanghai Waigaoqia shipyards. These agreements will be instrumental in promoting the development of efficient ship designs and solutions to meet the needs of the customers.

“By combining China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s [CSSC] strong capabilities as the number one ship builder in China and Wärtsilä’s industry leading technologies, we can make an important difference in today’s challenging global marine market,” said Roger Holm, senior vice president at Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

The joint venture was established in July 2014 for the manufacture of medium and large bore, medium speed diesel and dual-fuel Wärtsilä engines. This will be the first factory in China to manufacture such engines.

The factory will provide CSSC Group and other Chinese yards with closer access to the Wärtsilä range of engines with benefits of faster delivery times and competitive pricing, the company said.

Wu Qiang, president of CSSC, said: “This is an important occasion for the shipping industry in China. The new factory will produce state-of-the-art marine engines that will serve our customers with value adding efficiencies.”

The project will target the offshore and LNG markets that are growing significantly in China and the first products manufactured at the facility are expected to be ready in 2016. The production capacity is planned at 180 engines per year.