China plans for growth

China State Shipbuilding Corp says that by 2015 it will have the world’s biggest shipyard, a high-tech facility capable of producing cruise ships and natural gas tankers. The yard, being built on an island at the mouth of the Yangtze river, will feature seven construction docks along a five-mile stretch of coastline.

When completed the yard will produce a total of 12 million dead weight tons of ships per year. Hyundai Heavy Industries currently operates the world’s largest shipyard, in the South Korean city of Ulsan. South Korea is the world’s top ship producer, followed by Japan. China is the third largest, with about 8 percent of global market share.

At least two of China State?s subsidiaries, the Jiangnan Shipyard and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, will move to the new yard from their present locations close to the city centre.

Work on the first ships at the yard will begin in four years.

Chen Xiaojin, general manager of China State Shipbuilding said the company was courting both domestic and foreign investors to finance the project.

Although Chinese shipbuilders now lag in building the most advanced ships, the new yard will be capable of building high-technology vessels such as cruise ships and those used to transport liquefied natural gas.

European shipbuilders currently dominate the high-end cruise ship business.