Global trade can not be separated from sea transportation. Nowadays, Chinese shipyards have recently made inroads into the high-end ship segment, to compete with their South Korean competitors.
What's facilitating that trend is the "marine economy", whose meaning has widened in recent times to include industries like shipping, fishing, aquaculture, oil and gas.
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| image credit: internet |
Marine economy now includes sectors such as marine chemistry, biomedicine, ocean power, seawater use, marine tourism, ocean engineering and construction. A large variety of vessels serve these industries and sectors. Conventional vessels like bulk ships and ore carriers are no longer the kings of the marine economy transport system.
The new-age marine economy has created new opportunities for shipyards. More so for Chinese shipyards because of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Many economies participating in the initiative are seeking to develop trade, regional connectivity, offshore energy, tourism and other service businesses via the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Additional demand for ships is coming from China's increasing resource deployment into high-end manufacturing as part of the Made in China 2025 strategy.
Lin Zhongqin, president of Shanghai Jiaotong University, said capable Chinese shipyards have already upgraded their products, having sold cheap bulk carriers and tugboats for more than a decade. They now make complex, high value-added vessels to reach buyers in new segments through international collaboration, research and development activities.
Chen Jianliang, chairman of Hudong-Zhonghua, said China, as well as both developed and developing countries, are all eager to purchase natural gas from abroad to adopt greener energy. LNG carriers can meet the demand to secure their energy supply from overseas markets.
The American Bureau of Shipping, a Houston-based classification society, predicted that around 100 LNG carriers will be bought by different shipowners across the globe between 2017 and 2020.
"China is shifting from producing inefficient and dated vessels that are clogging up Chinese shipyards to investing heavily in the rapidly growing market of LNG and liquefied petroleum gas or LPG carriers, as well as marine fishing ships, law enforcement vessels, large icebreakers and chemical tankers," said Chen.
In addition to LNG carriers, another Chinese shipyard, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd, is building a cruise liner, the first such vessel to be built on the Chinese mainland. It is expected to be delivered to a Hong Kong-based buyer in 2023, marking a milestone in the evolution of the country's shipbuilding industry.
"The construction of China's first cruise ship will help improve various sectors of the domestic shipbuilding ecosystem, which will become part of the global supply chain," said Dong Liwan, a shipbuilding professor at Shanghai Maritime University.
Even though Chinese shipyards have recovered a bit in the first half of this year, Dong said competition with South Korean competitors will be fierce in the long term, especially at a time when the whole industry is witnessing price wars and demanding advanced ships with more functions.
South Korean shipyards received 34 percent of global orders in the first half of this year, to top the world's country-wise list for the industry's giants, according to British shipping and offshore market intelligence provider Clarkson Research Services Ltd.
Three South Korean companies including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co, received 72 ship orders, including 60 for oil tankers and very large crude carriers or VLCCs, with a total value of $4.2 billion.
As the report say, Chinese shipyards will be more competition with South Korea competitors. Also the global trade.
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