China Boosts Domestic Shipping Capacity

Construction of ten such bulkers tailored to the domestic trade has been entrusted to Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) under a deal with China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC) and CITC Financial Leasing. Deliveries will be phased through 2024 and 2025, and the entire series will be deployed by an unnamed, established operator in the coastal traffic under leasing arrangements.

The gearless bulkers will be of the Dolphin D65 type, developed by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI), and will have a primary role in the transportation of energy resources along the coast and into the Yangtze River.

The design enables access to points on the Yangtze as far upstream as Nanjing, which ranks among the world’s deepest and largest inland seaports and serves as a major hub for river/sea transhipment. Cargo capacity is optimised in a five-hold configuration within given draught constraints.

A comparatively low-resistance hull incorporates an energy saving duct and hub cap, and SDARI claims that D65 offers significantly better fuel consumption than similar-sized ships, with an EEDI measurement “25% lower than the domestic baseline”. Moreover, the superstructure has been dimensioned and shaped so as to reduce wind resistance.

The Dolphin D family as a whole is an established class in coastal trade, numbering over 100 ships already in service, as represented by earlier designs such as the D50, D51, D57 and D59.

Recently, the first example of a 76,000dwt variant, the D76, made its debut. Named Dong Yi 601, the bulker was delivered to Fujian Dongyi Shipping by Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Ship Industry, otherwise known as Jinglu Shipyard. Located in northeast China’s Shandong Province, Jinglu has two further D76 newbuilds in hand to the order of Fujian Dongyi, and it is understood that the design figures in at least seven other contracts placed elsewhere in China by various owners.

The D76 has a length overall of 225m and beam of 36.5m, and is the largest domestic trade bulker to date capable of working into the lower reaches of the Yangtze. The main engine is an MAN 6S50ME-C9.7 two-stroke diesel rated for an output of 7,512kW at 85rpm, and manufactured under licence by CSSC Marine Power Zhenjiang.