On Feb. 18, the Steel Cutting Ceremony of two 18000 TEU Container Ships H6001 and H6002 were held in SCH and SWS respectively.
So far the 18000 TEU Container Ship with 399.2 m length, 48,000 tonnage steel input is regarded as the top size super large container ship in China, whose design volume is equivalent to 3 times of 180K Capesize Bulk Carrier. With the accordance of working planning, H6001 and H6003 are constructed in SCH, H6002 is constructed in SWS. Since the contract entered into force in last June, the Working Planning Dept. from both SWS and SCH made great cooperation in organizing the all working preparation departments to orderly promote the production preparation such as detail design, shop design and equipment procurement. That gave full play to the advantages in resources of both SWS and SCH and provided the guarantee to the successful steel cutting.
In the era of high oil price, the ship owners tend to favor the super large container ships which have advantages in lower freight rate and lager loading capacity. Due to its construction difficulty, the builders of super large container ships have been concentrated in few modern Korean shipyards. However, the Steel Cutting of 18000 TEU Container Ships in SWS and SCH broke up the monopoly of Korean Shipyard in this field, as well as it indicated China has entered into the world leading group in building Super large Container Ships. The project of 18000 TEU Container Ships has been listed into the key research projects by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.