20,000-ton level seagoing vessel starts sailing in Foshan
Foshan China 2022-06-09 09:40
On June 6, "Hongfu 32", a shipping vessel with the largest DWT in Foshan, has started running on sails. It marked another step forward as Foshan strives to foster a more competitive shipping industry.

*DWT refers to Dead Weight Tonnage

 

The vessel, a brainchild of Foshan Hongfu Shipping Co., Ltd, has been classified by CCS with record-breaking designs. The ship is measured 148.66 meters in length, 24 meters in width and 13.25 meters in depth. It set a new record for the largest tonnage, 19,965.5 tons, of a single vessel in Foshan. It mainly transports coastal product oil.

 

*CCS refers to China Classification Society

 

"Hongfu 32", Foshans largest coastal shipping vessel (Photo by Foshan Municipal Bureau of Transportation)


Inland shipping has been identified as one of the key growth areas in Foshan. Back in 2020, Foshan has unveiled favorable policies as such:

 

1) offer bonus to newly added ship capacity

2) support the replacement of old ships with new ones

3) subsidize large-scale and specialized ships, including clean energy-powered ships and container ships

4) encourage shipping company to scale up their capacity and service

 

On the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta, Foshan is home to a dense water network. Water transportation, an eco-friendly way of transportation, has been thriving in Foshan for years. It accounts for more than 80% of the freight volume in international trade. 

 

So far in Foshan, 67 shipping companies have gathered up 380 ships that boast more than 1.05 million DWT. Since the policies came out in 2020, a total of 38 sub-enterprises have been subsidized, with a funding of over 53 million yuan. There have also been more new or large-scale vessels, with 141 new ships of 2,000 deadweight tons or more, among which 32 are coastal shipping ships. 

 

The transport capacity of domestic coastal ships enjoys a higher proportion in Foshans total transport capacity. Statistically, the average tonnage of ships has increased from 1,800 tons in 2020 to 2850 tons now. Transport milage has also gone up from 197 kilometers to 283 kilometers. With all these records, Foshan has gone and will continue to go for the extra mile and  in seeking "steady while quality growth" in water transportation.

 


The vessel under LNG power conversion (Photo by Foshan Municipal Bureau of Transportation)


Author | Jersey

Revisor | Ivy