Yichang shipbuilders go green and go smart
2023-10-08 18:10:48
By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio
Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park in Zhijiang, one of four shipbuilding bases in Yichang, is buzzing with activity.
In July, the park launched a multi-purpose electric ship, Huahang Xinneng 1, built by Zhijiang Shengmao Shipbuilding. It is the first Hubei-made electric ship able to handle both containers and bulk cargo and the first to work on Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
Meanwhile, workers at Yichang Xinhui Ship Repair in the same park are busy building an 8,000-ton LNG cargo ship.
Yichang's green shipbuilding industry is making waves.
The new energy ships illustrate China's ambition to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.
To promote smart, green ships, Yichang is building a total of four shipbuilding bases in Zhijiang, Yidu, Zigui and Changyang.
With its excellent natural environment and solid industrial foundation, Yichang aims to become the largest green and smart ship manufacturing base in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and to develop a complete industry chain.
The Zhijiang base – which now has an annual shipbuilding capacity of over 1 million tonnes – is home to nine of the new energy ship-related companies. Of the 86 ships launched in 2022, 24 were new energy ships.
This is good news for the environment. Yangtze River Three Gorges 1, the world's largest electric cruise ship, which was launched in Yichang last March, emitted 700 tons less CO₂ last year than a traditional vessel.
Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park in Zhijiang, one of four shipbuilding bases in Yichang, is buzzing with activity.
In July, the park launched a multi-purpose electric ship, Huahang Xinneng 1, built by Zhijiang Shengmao Shipbuilding. It is the first Hubei-made electric ship able to handle both containers and bulk cargo and the first to work on Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
Meanwhile, workers at Yichang Xinhui Ship Repair in the same park are busy building an 8,000-ton LNG cargo ship.
Yichang's green shipbuilding industry is making waves.
The new energy ships illustrate China's ambition to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.
To promote smart, green ships, Yichang is building a total of four shipbuilding bases in Zhijiang, Yidu, Zigui and Changyang.
With its excellent natural environment and solid industrial foundation, Yichang aims to become the largest green and smart ship manufacturing base in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and to develop a complete industry chain.
The Zhijiang base – which now has an annual shipbuilding capacity of over 1 million tonnes – is home to nine of the new energy ship-related companies. Of the 86 ships launched in 2022, 24 were new energy ships.
This is good news for the environment. Yangtze River Three Gorges 1, the world's largest electric cruise ship, which was launched in Yichang last March, emitted 700 tons less CO₂ last year than a traditional vessel.
Yangtze River Three Gorges 1.
"We have built eight new energy-powered ships, and we will build more," said Qin Qisheng, chairman of Xinhui.
The Yichang government encourages shipbuilding firms to cooperate with high-level electric ship research institutes.
Xinhui is working with the No. 712 Ship Research Institute to establish a new energy yacht building base.
In the eight months from January to August 2023, the nine shipbuilding companies in the Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park began work on 113 vessels, 70 of which are still under construction. Among them, 28 are new energy vessels (19 hybrid, nine pure electric).
In addition, there are plans for the construction of ships powered by hydrogen.
Yichang Shipbuilding Industrial Park.
The Zhijiang base is not the only one seeing action. On May 18, construction began on the 8 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), 106-hectare Yichang Green and Intelligent Ship Industrial Park project in Yidu.
The project, which targets an export value of more than 10 billion yuan, will be another magnet for green shipbuilding firms.
City planners hope that, by the end of 2026, the total output value of the city's green intelligent shipbuilding industry chain will reach 50 billion yuan.
