A Chinese shipyard has cut steel on five new tugs and launched another five in the past month, returning construction to full production levels
Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard Group has started constructing five new azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs for Chinese owners in the last 31 days, has launched another five ASD tugs and assembled another, all for domestic port operations.
This comes as Chinese shipbuilding accelerated this quarter to return to pre-coronavirus levels, after industry output slowed during restrictions in Q1 2020.
Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard’s latest milestone was steel cutting three tugboats for a domestic customer on 11 June. The shipyard is contracted to build three ASD tugs for Ningbo Yonggang Tugboat Co. One of the tugs will have a power rating of 4,175 kW and a class FiFi1 fire-fighting system. The other two will be built with installed power of 3,730 kW and water supply units.
At the end of May, Zhenjiang Shipyard in Jiangsu province celebrated assembly completion of an ASD tug with a power rating of 2,980 kW for Fujian Fugang Tugboat Co.
It also launched a similar tugboat, named Cao Gang 29, for Caofeidin Tug Ship Co on 28 May.
Zhenjiang Shipyard then celebrated two milestones on 20 May. It launched a shiphandling and fire-fighting tug it is building for Nanjing Port. This will have installed power of 3,240 kW.
Also on that day, the shipyard started cutting steel on a fire-fighting ASD tug. This will have installed power of 3,730 kW and will be operated by Jiangyin & Huizhou.
Prior to this, Zhenjiang Shipyard cut steel on a 3,824 kW-powered ASD tug for Tianjin Nangang Shipping Co on 14 May and launched a 3,730 kW-powered ASD tugboat on 12 May for Zhenjiang Tugboat Port Co.
Two similar tugs were launched at the shipyard on 9 May for Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co and Yonggang Tugboat Co.
Zhenjiang Shipyard launches its tugs by lifting them from drydock to the quayside or down slips into the water. It then works on these tugs by installing other systems and equipment and commissioning them before delivery, sometimes months later.
In May, the shipyard delivered the last of 11 tugs it was building for COSCO’s transportation operations for a bauxite mining and export project in Guinea, Africa.
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