Chinese shipyard embarks on construction of two offshore platforms

China Merchants Jingling Weihai, part of the shipbuilding arm of China Merchants Group, has held a groundbreaking ceremony for two self-propelled, self-elevating offshore platforms, which were ordered by the Tianjin-based Huake Wuzhou Offshore Engineering (Huake Wuzhou).

Weihai Jinling disclosed on Thursday, 23 March 2023, that it held the groundbreaking ceremony on 3 March 2023 for two self-propelled work platforms ordered by Huake Wuzhou. The Chinese shipyard highlights that the platforms are a series of liftboat projects built by the company for Huake Wuzhou, illustrating another cooperation between the two parties in the field of small offshore engineering, which will continue to improve the company’s construction capabilities and expand the market awareness.

The ceremony was witnessed by Wang Zhaogang, Deputy General Manager of Huake Wuzhou; Gao Yanfeng, representative of Hamilton Company; Yang Han, Director of Business Department of Anhui Purize Trading; Qing Pengfei, Manager of Shanghai Commerce Department of ABS Classification Society; and Zheng Hehui, General Manager of Weihai Jinling.

Additionally, the ceremony was attended by senior surveyors, Shi Cunwei and Song Haidun of ABS Classification Society; Zhou Zhengbing, Deputy General Manager of Weihai Jinling; Ou Shubo, chief engineer; Zhou Min, assistant to the general manager and manager of the human resources department; and members of the project team.

With the stabilisation of oil and gas prices and the recovery of the offshore market, the Chinese shipyard claims that liftboats have become increasingly in demand for their flexible and efficient offshore operations. This is a self-elevating, self-propelled vessel equipped with at least one crane and with open deck space that can be used for multiple purposes.

As a reminder, Weihai Jinling and Huake Wuzhou inked two construction contracts in December 2022 for two additional self-propelled, self-elevating offshore platforms. This brought the total number of orders for such platforms from Huake Wuzhou to four. However, the dimensions of the previous two differed from the new ones.

The previously ordered units were expected to come with a leg length of 97 metres, a total platform length of about 96.8 metres, a hull length of about 74.4 metres, a width of 40 metres, and a moulded depth of 6.1 metres while having the capacity to accommodate 250 people and operate in a water depth of 4m~65m.

On the other hand, the new orders were for a multi-functional service platform, with a leg length of 107 metres, a total hull length of 92 metres, a width of 40 metres, and a moulded depth of 6.1 metres along with the capacity to accommodate 150 people and operate in a water depth of 65 metres while being equipped with a DP2 dynamic positioning system.