On April 28, the first 82,000 DWT bulk carrier, built by China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard for the Norwegian shipowner Seatankers, slowly sailed away from the port to start sea trial. This is the first sea trial after the acquisition of Qingdao Yangfan Shipyard by China Merchants Industry and its name change.
China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard was formerly the State-owned Qingdao Shipyard, which was founded in 1949. Since its establishment, it has built more than 600 vessels. The product types include 200,000-ton class large bulk carriers, medium and large container ships represented by 6,000TEU, 82,000 DWT bulk carriers, offshore engineering support vessels, official vessels, passenger vessels and other special vessels.
According to the official website of China Merchants Group, on February 28 this year, China Merchants Group signed a strategic agreement to deepen cooperation with the Qingdao Municipal Government. On the basis of the existing good cooperation, the two sides would further expand the scope of cooperation, innovate cooperation methods, deepen cooperation, and establish a closer and more comprehensive cooperative relationship.
On April 14, the name of Qingdao Shipyard’s official WeChat public account was changed to China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard.
On April 17, China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard held a symposium for subcontractors in the first quarter of 2025. Zheng Hehui, deputy general manager of China Merchants Industry and general manager of China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard, made an appearance.
On April 18, Deng Renjie, deputy general manager of China Merchants Group, met with Ren Gang, deputy secretary of the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee and mayor, in Shenzhen. The two sides exchanged views on further deepening cooperation and witnessed the signing of the Qingdao Shipyard investment contract between China Merchants Industry and Huatong Group.
According to the official website, China Merchants Industry Qingdao Shipyard has a plant area of 790,000 square meters, an outfitting quay of 1,090 meters, two large and small dry docks (large dock 480 meters × 76 meters, small dock 180 meters × 28 meters), two 600-ton gantry cranes, one 150-ton gantry crane and more than 2,000 sets of domestic first-class supporting production equipment. Upon reaching production, it can achieve an annual steel processing capacity of 200,000 tons and an annual shipbuilding capacity of 1.5 million deadweight tons.