On July 7, the Dalian Municipal People’s Government, the Administrative Committee of Changxing Island Economic and Technological Development Zone and Hengli Group signed the Agreement on Industrial Development of Hengli Heavy Industries (Dalian Changxing Island) Industrial Park.
According to the agreement, Hengli Group will make an additional investment of RMB 9.2 billion (about $1.265 billion) to build Hengli Heavy Industries (Dalian Changxing Island) Industrial Park, which is expected to form a construction capacity of 1.8 million tons of annual steel processing capacity and an annual output of 7.1 million dwt, to further expand the manufacturing business of super-large oil tankers, super-large LNG carriers, super-large container ships, offshore floating production and storage tankers, offshore floating wind turbines, drilling platforms, and other high value-added green ships and high-end offshore equipment manufacturing business such as drilling platforms, to create a modern, intelligent and green first-class ship and offshore equipment manufacturing industry base.
Hengli Heavy Industries, formerly known as STX Dalian Shipbuilding Co Ltd, was reportedly the largest foreign-owned shipyard in China. The company was founded in 2006, and declared bankruptcy and liquidation on December 20, 2015. In July 2022, Hengli Heavy Industry Group Co, Ltd, a subsidiary of Hengli Group, acquired STX Dalian Shipbuilding at a price of RMB 2.11 billion (about US$293 million).
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Hengli Group placed an order for four 20,000 DWT bulk carriers with Hengli Heavy Industry, marking the official restart of Hengli Heavy Industry’s shipbuilding business.
At the beginning of 2023, Hengli Heavy Industrial Park was formally operated, and Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co. Ltd. has gathered more than 30 domestic and foreign well-known experts in design, quality and production to set up a ship design research center. Meanwhile, Hengli Heavy Industry keeps upgrading and remodeling the production line, and focuses on the construction of six major sectors, including shipbuilding, marine engineering, engine, equipment manufacturing, precision casting and green building materials. After full operation, the industrial park will have an annual steel processing capacity of 1 million tons, shipbuilding capacity of 6.3 million deadweight tons, the annual delivery of 40 vessels.
Since the restart, Hengli Heavy Industries has focused its orders on the bulk carrier market, while also expanding its shipbuilding field, and took over two 306,000 DWT Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) from Hengli Group in September 2023, marking an important leap for the company.On July 3, Hengli Heavy Industries announced that it had signed a construction contract for six 325,000 DWT Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs) with Singapore’s Winning Group, marking a formal entry into the VLOC construction field.