With the gradual recovery of the global ship market, the new building market ushered in a boom in orders. Against this backdrop, a number of shipbuilders have expanded their production capacity to meet the demand for orders. Several shipyards that went bankrupt and closed during market downturns have also restarted or been acquired to form new enterprises.
The expanded shipyards include: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, New Times Shipbuilding, Wuhu Shipyard, Wison New Energy (WNE), Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (XMXYG SOE), BOMESC Offshore Engineering, COOEC and etc.
The restarted shipyards include: Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. (DSOC), Hengli Heavy Industry, Jiangxi New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou), Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding, Quanzhou Shipyard, Fujian Guanhai Shipbuilding Industry and so on.
Capacity Expansion
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding plans to invest RMB 3 billion in the next two years to build the Yangzi Hongyuan green high-tech clean energy ship manufacturing base. With a shoreline length of 1320 meters, the base covers an area of about 1300 mu, to build a 300,000-ton shipbuilding dock, a 200,000-ton outfitting dock, a 100,000-ton harbor basin, the annual production capacity of about 800,000 deadweight tons, which is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2026. Also, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has reached a joint venture agreement with Japan’s Tsuneishi Group to acquire 34% of the equity of Zhoushan Tsuneishi Shipbuilding through a non-public rights issue, and Zhoushan Tsuneishi Shipbuilding will become an associate company of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
New Times Shipbuilding: New Times shipbuilding plans to invest RMB 5 billion to develop new energy ship intelligent manufacturing project (Phase I) project. The first phase of the project plans to build intelligent manufacturing workshops and other facilities, while renovating the existing coating room and intelligent production lines. The company proposes to increase new plants and auxiliary buildings including new workshops, 110,000 volt substation, compressed air station, liquid oxygen gasification station, propane gasification station, LNG gasification station, carbon dioxide gasification station etc.;purchase intelligent technology and large gantry crane and other intelligent equipment, and plan to build a dock, a river pier. The new dock is 700 metres long, which can build two VLCCS side by side and accommodate two VLCC half-ship sections side by side. Upon completion, New Times Shipbuilding will have four dry docks.
Wuhu Shipyard: In May 2024, Wuhu Shipyard (Weihai) Green Marine Technology Industrial Base was officially put into operation, with an investment of RMB 2 billion. The Weihai base is mainly engaged in ship construction, design, repair, offshore engineering equipment and offshore wind power equipment development, covering an area of 460,000 square meters. It has one 100,000-ton dock and two 50,000-ton slipways, mainly building 3000-9000 CEU PCTCs, 50,000 DWT MR tanker, 80,000 DWT Panamax bulk carriers and etc., with a total planned capacity of 800,000 deadweight tons. On August 22, 2024, Wuhu Shipyard signed an agreement for the Chizhou Intelligent Green Shipbuilding Base Project. The base focuses on the research and development and manufacturing of green intelligent ships in inland rivers and offshore waters, to build a green intelligent ship base with ship research and development and manufacturing as the core, power replacement operation, ship maintenance, dismantling, and circular economy as one.
Wison New Energy (WNE)：Wison Nantong Base Upgrade project started in March 2023 and was completed at the end of November. It consists of four parts: a new spraying workshop, SPB tank assembly workshop, 2000t×200m shipbuilding gantry crane and dock expansion. The total construction area of the coating workshop exceeds 10,000 square meters, and the annual spraying capacity of Nantong base has increased from 500,000 square meters to 1.2 million square meters. SPB tank workshop has a total construction area of more than 25,000 square meters, with an annual output of 16 SPB tanks of 50,000 cubic meters; One new 2000t×200m shipbuilding gantry crane will be built; The length of the dock was extended from 290 meters to 370 meters.
In August 2024, the WNE Qidong Base Project was launched, covering an area of approximately 1.2 million square meters. The first phase includes a 1,370-meter excavated deep-water harbor basin, expected to be completed and put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2025, with an annual steel processing capacity of 250,000 tons. The project will feature a 520-meter long, 110-meter wide offshore dock equipped with a gantry crane with a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons. Additionally, the module assembly site is approximately 150,000 square meters, and the site will be equipped with a gantry crane with a lifting capacity of 1,200 tons.
XMXYG SOE: XMXYG SOE won the core assets of Jiangsu Hongqiang marine Heavy Industry (Hongqiang Heavy Industry) at a price of RMB 440 million. The bidding assets include 56,352.42 square meters of housing buildings owned by Hongqiang Heavy Industry, one wharf, three 50,000-100,000 tons slipways, 682.3 meters of Yangtze River shoreline usage rights and related equipment, patents, etc. It is estimated that the annual production capacity of XMXYG SOE can be expected to increase by 60% after reaching production. Hongqiang Heavy Industry was established in 2005, is a large-scale offshore and shipbuilding enterprise. on November 9, 2017, Hongqiang Heavy Industry was acquired by Taishan Petrochemical at a cost of RMB 210 million; in early 2018, Taishan Petrochemical stopped its financial support, and Hongqiang Heavy Industry once again fell into a state of shutdown; on June 21, 2023, Hongqiang Heavy Industry administrators released the announcement of bankruptcy reorganization investor recruitment.
BOMESC Offshore Engineering: Lingang Offshore Heavy Industry Construction Base Phase IV Reconstruction and Expansion Project of BOMESC Offshore Engineering was completed in October 2024. The expansion project is located on the east side of the already constructed Phase IV project. It plans to build a structure workshop, pre-assembly workshop, compressed air station, and the No. 6 final assembly site, , etc. The total area covers 94,984.1 square meters. The project mainly focuses on the manufacturing of FPSO topside modules, LNG pipe racks and process modules, offshore platform modules, and other factory modular products. It has an annual production capacity of 1,500 to 10,000 tons and an annual steel processing capacity of 22,500 tons.
COOEC: The COOEC Tianjin Intelligent Manufacturing Base is being constructed in two phases. The first phase was completed and put into operation in June 2022, while the second phase began construction in July 2023 and is expected to be put into operation by October 30, 2024. The base covers an area of approximately 575,000 square meters and includes four intelligent production workshops, eight production support centers, sixteen final assembly workstations, and a wharves suitable for large ships. This base will focus on the development of high-end oil and gas equipment, such as offshore oil and gas platforms and floating production equipment LNG modules. And to create a comprehensive base integrating intelligent manufacturing of offshore engineering, intelligent protection of oil and gas field operation and maintenance, as well as offshore technology innovation and research and development platform, etc., with an annual production capacity of nearly 90,000 tons after full operation.
Restarting shipyards
Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. (DSOC): DSOC was once a subsidiary of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation(DSIC) of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). Founded in September 2006, it is engaged in the manufacturing of offshore equipment and can build jack-up and semi-submersible drilling/living platforms, drilling ships, FPSO and other offshore engineering and ships at the same time. It has the ability to deliver 8-10 offshore engineering projects annually. In January 2019, DSOC entered bankruptcy reorganization procedures; in December 2022, its equity relationship was officially separated from DSIC. On August 30, 2023, it received its first independent contract order after bankruptcy reorganization. On September 15, 2023, it issued a name change notice and changed its name to “Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co., Ltd.”
Hengli Heavy Industry: Formerly known as STX (Dalian) Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Hengli Heavy Industry Group, a subsidiary of Hengli Group, acquired idle assets under STX Dalian Shipbuilding and other companies for RMB 2.11 billion in July 2022; in the fourth quarter of 2022, Hengli Heavy Industry officially restarted its shipbuilding business; at the beginning of 2023, Hengli Heavy Industry Industrial Park was put into operation; on April 18, 2024, Hengli Heavy Industry delivered the first ship after restarting its shipbuilding business.
In July 2024, Hengli Heavy Industry invested an additional RMB 9.2 billion to start the Phase II project of Hengli Heavy Industry Industrial Park (already under construction), focusing on expanding high-value-added green ships and high-end offshore engineering equipment manufacturing businesses such as VLCC, VLGC, large container ships, FPSO, offshore floating wind power, and drilling platforms, and is expected to form an annual steel processing capacity of 1.8 million tons and an annual output of 7.1 million deadweight tons. At the same time, Hengli Heavy Industry announced an additional investment of RMB 2 billionto simultaneously build the Hengli Heavy Industry (Dalian Changxing Island) supporting industrial park.
New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry: the predecessor of New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry was Jiangxi Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding; In 2008, Jiangxi Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding became a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Ocean Industry Group Limited; in March 2018, Jiangzhou United Shipbuilding was managed by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding; in October 2018, China Ocean Industry Group announced the sale of the assets of Jiangzhou United Shipbuilding at a price of RMB 100 million to Ruichang City Ruilian Asset Management Co. in 2022; in August 2022, the People’s Government of Ruichang City, together with Yangzijiang Financial Holding Group and Jiangsu
In August 2022, the Ruichang Municipal People’s Government signed a RMB 10 billionhigh-end ship equipment manufacturing and green building materials project with Yangzijiang Financial Holding Group and Jiangsu Zhenqiu Investment Group. As the main contractor of the high-end ship manufacturing project, New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry took over the main production factors of its predecessor Jiangzhou United Shipbuilding from Ruilian Asset Company. On November 30, 2023, New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry announced the restart and resumption of work and production.
Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou)：Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) was originally a subsidiary of Jiangsu Sainty Marine Corp (Sainty Marine) was established in September 2004. In 2011, Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. In 2016, it went bankrupt and reorganized due to serious losses, becoming the first listed shipbuilding company in China to go bankrupt. Subsequently, Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group saved Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) facing delisting by injecting capital in exchange for shares.In 2016, Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Jiangsu Sainty Assets Management Co. was established; in May 2016, all properties of Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) except monetary funds were transferred to Sainty Assets Management by an agreement; in March 2017, Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) was renamed Jiangsu Guoxin Co., Ltd. and announced its “withdrawing from the shipbuilding industry”. In January 2020, Sainty Assets Management delivered its first new ship since its establishment. In 2024, Sainty Machinery, Sainty Minmetals and Sainty Assets of angsu Soho Holdings Group completed the merger and reorganization and were renamed as Soho Chuangke Group, and Yangzhou Sunshine Shipbuilding restarted its shipbiliding business.
Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding： Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding was established in 2005. In September 2021, it applied for bankruptcy and liquidation due to its inability to repay its debts. In August 2024, Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding completed bankruptcy reorganization, and DCL Investments officially became its controlling shareholder. After completing the controlling stake, DCL Investments continues to focus on the main business of Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding, equip the shipyard with an experienced management and operation team, upgrade supporting facilities, promote full resumption of work and production as soon as possible, and gradually transform to building high value-added ships.
Quanzhou Shipyard: The predecessor of Quanzhou Shipyard is Quanzhou Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd., which was established in 2004. In 2007, Titan Petrochemicals Group, a private enterprise listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, acquired Quanzhou Shipyard for US$170 million and became its wholly-owned subsidiary; in 2010, Titan Petrochemicals decided to sell Quanzhou Shipyard but was unsuccessful; In December 2019, the People’s Court of Hui’an County, Fujian Province accepted the liquidation application of Quanzhou Shipyard; in November 2020, Quanzhou Shipyard initiated its first auction at approximately RMB 852 million; in January 2021, Quanzhou Jiaofa Real Estate Investment Group bid about RMB 1.2 billion to win the bankruptcy asset package of Quanzhou Shipyard; in February 2022, the Quanzhou Shipyard restructuring project with a total investment of RMB 2 billion was launched; In April 2022, Quanzhou Jiaofa Group established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Quanzhou Jiaofa Shipbuilding Industry Development to be responsible for the management and operation of the Quanzhou Shipyard; and in September 2023, the Quanzhou Shipyard formally resumed work and production.
Guanhai Shipbuilding: Guanhai Shipbuilding was invested and established by Fujian Guanhai Shipping Co., Ltd. In the second half of 2013, the Guanhai series of companies were indebted as much as RMB 2 billion due to broken capital chains; In April 2019, the Lianjiang County People’s Court of Fujian Province ruled to accept the bankruptcy application of Guanhai Shipbuilding and Fujian Guanhai Shipping; In February 2021, the administrators of the two companies issued a reorganization investor recruitment announcement and selected Fujian Jinsheng Real Estate Development as the intended investor; in December 2022, the “Pre-Reorganization Plan” of the two companies was adopted, meeting the conditions for substantive consolidation and reorganization; In May 2023, the administrator applied to the Lianjiang Court for substantive consolidation and reorganization of the two companies; In June 2023, the substantive consolidation reorganization opinions of the two companies were unanimously adopted by the creditors and debtors; in August 2023, the Draft Reorganization Plan of the two companies was fully adopted, and Fujian Jinsheng Real Estate Development was finally determined as the reorganization investor, and the Lianjiang Court ruled in the same month to approve the reorganization plan of the two companies and terminate the bankruptcy and reorganization procedures of the two companies, and Guanhai series of companies formally entered into the stage of reorganization and execution; in September 2023, Guanhai series of companies completed the bankruptcy and reorganization. The new company name after bankruptcy reorganization is Fujian Songmin Group.