From defense to civil, biz sectors
State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp is going beyond building navy vessels and making advanced scientific research ships. For long, it was the largest supplier of surface combatants to the Chinese Navy.
All of the Navy’s Type 052D class guided-missile destroyers and Type 054A guided-missile frigates, the most powerful of their kind, were manufactured by the Beijing-headquartered CSSC. In late June, it launched the nation’s largest and mightiest destroyer, the first in the Type 055 class, at its Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.
Encouraged by government measures to boost transfer of defense-related technologies to civilian and business sectors, CSSC has been using its expertise in the research and development of naval hard- ware to construct high-tech civilian ships, said company officials.
The company is currently making a polar research icebreaker — the first to be built from the keel up by China — at the Jiangnan Shipyard, and the country’s first marine resources survey ship at the Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
Both ships will have the top technological and operational capacity of their kind in the world. They are scheduled to be completed and commissioned by the State Oceanic Administration in 2019, the company said.
The new ship will improve the nation’s capabilities in supporting polar expeditions ...” Yang Huigen, head of the Polar Research Institute of China Mega-container ships and bulkers
CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co Ltd
Location: Key products:
Shanghai
Warships, chemical tankers, multipurpose bulk carriers, scientific research ships, icebreaker, ship conversion and repairing businesses Operational revenue: Not available Well-known products: Destroyers and chemical tankers
Sources: Data from these companies’ websites