Delivery of the last ship! Qingshan Shipyard completely withdraws from the shipbuilding industry!

A total of 630 ships were built in 69 years, with 218 exported. Once hailed as "China's best chemical tanker shipyard," this largest shipyard in central China has finally completely exited the shipbuilding industry with the delivery of its last vessel. Qingshan Shipyard, having "abandoned shipbuilding," will make a glorious transformation, shifting to steel structure business and developing a container distribution center.

Delivery of the last ship! 70 years of history creating countless glories.

On April 18, 2018, Changjiang Navigation Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd. delivered the last 43,000-ton bulk carrier, "VENTURE GRACE," built for the German HBC shipping company in Nantong. This was also the last ship built by Qingshan Shipyard. From then on, Qingshan Shipyard will withdraw from the shipbuilding market.

       Image: Mr. Kuang Zhiguo, General Manager of Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd., and Mr. Georg Greilinger, General Manager of German HBC Shipping Company, attended the signing and delivery ceremony.

Qingshan Shipyard is a backbone shipbuilding enterprise of China COSCO Shipping, the largest civilian shipbuilding plant in Hubei Province. The factory covers an area of 1.15 million square meters and has a 69-year history of shipbuilding. It was once ranked among the world's top 50 shipyards and has the comprehensive capability to design and manufacture various types of ships with a deadweight of less than 100,000 tons, including bulk carriers and container ships, with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million deadweight tons.

Since its establishment, Qingshan Shipyard has built a total of 630 ships, including 218 ocean-going vessels for export, and has also created countless glories.

In 1981, the "Yin Xing" ship, built for export to Singapore, was the first Chinese ship registered with the British Lloyd's Register of Shipping.

In 1996, the construction of an 818-TEU container ship for export to Germany broke new ground for inland river shipyards in China undertaking the construction of 10,000-ton export vessels.

In December 2002, the completion and delivery of an 18,500-ton duplex stainless steel tank chemical carrier for export to Belgium was the first such vessel built in China. It has undertaken the construction of the world's first 25,000-ton icebreaker and the world's most fuel-efficient bulk carrier.

In May 2006, the construction and delivery of the low-noise, environmentally friendly 3,750-ton variable-frequency electric propulsion refined oil vessel "Special" filled a gap in China in this area and represented a new concept of green, environmentally friendly, low-noise, and energy-efficient ships in the world.

After 2008, the construction of 57,000-ton bulk carriers set three records for Qingshan Shipyard: it was the largest tonnage vessel built by the shipyard; the largest tonnage vessel built in central China; and the largest tonnage vessel in the world launched using a mechanical transverse slipway.

                        Image: A 7499-ton asphalt carrier built by Qingshan Shipyard for Yixin Shipping Group.

Qingshan Shipyard was also the first shipyard in Asia to successfully build a duplex stainless steel chemical carrier. In the global ranking of the top 50 chemical tanker builders, Qingshan Shipyard was once ranked seventh in the world and first in China, and was known as "China's best chemical tanker shipyard."

Since 1995, Qingshan Shipyard has mass-produced 818TEU, 660TEU, and 502TEU container ships, as well as 6750-ton multi-purpose container ships. It has successfully developed 2000-cubic-meter LPG carriers, 2000-ton ethylene glycol (stainless steel tank) carriers, 25,000-ton full-submersible heavy-lift special transport vessels, and 5000-ton bulk cement carriers. Currently, the main ship types built are 64,000-ton, 57,000-ton, 43,500-ton, 38,000-ton, 37,500-ton, and 36,000-ton bulk carriers; 19,100-ton heavy-lift vessels; 37,000-ton and 12,000-ton multi-purpose vessels; 19,800-ton stainless steel chemical carriers; 1100-TEU and 1800-TEU container ships; 12,800-ton and 16,500-ton asphalt carriers; and LNG bunkering vessels.

Abandoning shipbuilding! Transforming into steel structure business and building a container distribution center.

With the signing and delivery of the last vessel, Qingshan Shipyard has no abandoned orders. Qingshan Shipyard, having "abandoned shipbuilding," will make a glorious transformation, shifting to steel structure business, and the factory area, including the wharf, will be developed into a container distribution center.

Relevant personnel from Qingshan Shipyard stated that Qingshan Shipyard does not lack orders, but due to the sluggish ship market and in accordance with the requirements of the superior group and its own development needs, the shipyard has chosen to transform and restructure and will no longer undertake shipbuilding business.

"Change leads to prosperity, while stagnation leads to decline." Qingshan Shipyard, leveraging its years of experience in steel structures, established a steel structure company and undertook the first batch of 5,000-ton wind turbine tower projects, becoming the first wind power steel structure manufacturer in central China. Simultaneously, it built the world's largest steel cofferdam project—the Qingshan Changjiang Bridge steel cofferdam—in just two months.

While planning its transformation, Qingshan Shipyard is also seeking partnerships. The head of Zhonggu Shipping Group, one of the top three container shipping companies in China's domestic market, recently conducted a special inspection of Qingshan Shipyard. The two parties reached a preliminary agreement on domestic container shipping, envisioning the transformation of Qingshan Shipyard's wharf and factory area into a multimodal transport container distribution center centered in Wuhan and radiating to the central plains region.

It is understood that Qingshan Shipyard has a deep-water wharf on the bank of the Yangtze River, with a 2200-meter waterfront, nine total assembly berths, and three 300-ton gantry cranes. It can simultaneously accommodate four 100,000-ton giant ships, and has complete crane and site hardware facilities. If part of the Qingshan Shipyard factory area is transformed into a container distribution center, and 500,000 square meters of yard space can be arranged, a container throughput capacity of 1 million TEUs can be achieved.

Relevant personnel from the Wuhan New Port Management Committee introduced that Qingshan Shipyard has a superior geographical location and abundant waterfront resources. If it is transformed into a multimodal transport container distribution center, it can facilitate the export of goods from the Qingshan area and East Lake Development Zone, contributing to Wuhan's construction of a Yangtze River shipping center.

      Image: On November 4 last year, Li Jianhong, Chairman of China Merchants Group, visited Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard and learned in detail about the shipyard's history, assets, order delivery, reform and adjustment, and business transformation.

On November 4 last year, Li Jianhong, Chairman of China Merchants Group, visited Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard. At Qingshan Shipyard, Li Jianhong pointed out that in the next step, Qingshan Shipyard should establish a new positioning and seek new development in accordance with the overall planning of the local government and the overall transformation and upgrading arrangements of Changjiang Navigation Group.

Starting from the end of last year, the restructuring and integration of China Merchants Group and Sinotrans & CSC Group—the creation of the new Changjiang Navigation and the plan to return to Wuhan to revitalize the century-old Changjiang Navigation—was officially launched. On November 28 last year, Qingshan Shipyard issued a notice of company name change, and the original name "China Changjiang Navigation Group Qingshan Shipyard" was changed to "Changjiang Navigation Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd." on November 13, 2017.

Withdrawal does not represent giving up, but rather a step towards better progress! Next, Qingshan Shipyard will transform into a non-ship industry that aligns with national policy guidelines, embarking on a new journey of development in a new era.