On March 28th, the inaugural meeting of Anhui Shipbuilding Industry Association and Anhui Shipbuilding Industry Supply and Demand and Elements Matchmaking Conference were held in Wuhu City, Anhui Province. During the meeting, Anhui Shipbuilding Industry Association was formally established, Wuhu Shipyard Co., Ltd. was elected as the first presidential unit, and Zhang Zhao, chairman and general manager of Wuhu Shipyard, was elected as the first president of Anhui Shipbuilding Industry Association.
Initiated by Wuhu Shipyard and other 7 units, Anhui Shipbuilding Industry Association was combined with 125 enterprises in Anhui Province shipbuilding industry supporting enterprises, assembly plants, design units, scientific research institutes, ship inspection departments, etc. to jointly set up. The association integrates the advantages of inland waterway ship resources in Anhui Province, condenses the development of synergy, builds the ecological cluster of the assembly plant ship led by Wuhu Shipyard, and accelerates the formation of the new quality productivity of the development of the shipbuilding industry in Anhui Province.
Meanwhile, the company always insists on giving full play to the advantages of resource integration and platform, and provides more replicable experiences for upstream and downstream enterprises by continuously improving its own capability and gathering the strength of industry experts. As a leading enterprise, Wuhu Shipyard took the lead to set up Anhui Green Intelligent Ship and Marine Engineering Equipment Industry Alliance in March 2023, clarified the challenges and problems of the development of ships in Anhui, participated in the formulation of the “Intelligent and Green Development Suggestions for Inland Waterway Ships”, put forward 22 rationalized suggestions to provide solid and reliable field references for the competent authorities of the industry, and drafted and approved more than 10 safety standards for the shipping industry in Anhui Province.
On March 29th, the Shanghai branch of Haizhi Equipment Research Institute was established, marking the Wuhu Shipyard’s full synergy and integration of the most advantageous domestic regional talents and technical strength, and boosting the development of talents, scientific research, brand and other soaring development in Anhui Province.
As the leader of shipbuilding industry in Anhui Province, Wuhu Shipyard is situated in the 800-mile golden waterway of Wuhu. 2023 it ushered in the high-speed development, realizing the double-double increase of output value and profit, which refreshed the 123-year history.
The company has continued to develop and grow in recent years, it built the world’s largest and China’s first offshore oilfield well stimulation vessel last year, breaking the monopoly of foreign countries on offshore well stimulation vessel technology. Meanwhile, Wuhu Shipyard has set up a new strategic system, expanded production lines to raise production capacity, and upgraded core production resources such as segment manufacturing, shipyards and wharves, which will be officially put into operation in the first half of 2024.
On November 21 last year, Stolt-Nielsen, the world’s top chemical tanker owner, announced that it had signed a contract with Wuhu Shipyard for the construction of 6+6 38,000 dwt methanol reserved stainless steel chemical/product tankers, with the value of the order likely to be more than $700 million. Clarkson data shows that by the end of 2023, Wuhu Shipyard ranked first in the world in terms of handheld orders for small and medium-sized chemical tankers, and the handheld orders quickly exceeded the 30 billion yuan mark.
It is reported that in August 2022, Wuhu Shipyard officially signed a contract with Weihai Economic and Technological Development Zone for the Wuhu Shipyard Weihai Green Marine Technology Industrial Base Project, with a total investment of about 2 billion yuan, covering a total area of about 680 acres, and aiming to reach the conditions for starting production in March 2024. After put into production, it is expected to achieve an annual output value of 5 billion yuan.
It is understood that Wuhu Shipyard has 123 years of history, the main business involves liquid cargo ships, bulk carriers, multi-purpose ships, offshore vessels, special ships and other civilian ship series, as well as non-ferrous metal casting and other non-ship products.
In addition, at the conference held on March 28, four ship enterprises, including Wuhu Shipyard, released materials and talent demand. A number of enterprises jointly signed a strategic cooperation agreement amounting to about 390 million yuan.