Shipbuilders upgrade to stay afloat

Although the shipbuilding industry has undergone a slowdown over the past few years due to global maritime transport contraction at a time of economic downturn, Chinese shipbuilders have continued to enjoy growth as a result of upgrading.

Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd is one of the best examples and the liquefied natural gas carrier which it delivered in mid-July is strong evidence of this. The 174,000-cubic-meter ship, priced at $190 million, is able to hold enough LNG to supply all the demand of Shanghai for three weeks.

As explained by Chen Jianliang, chairman of Hudong-Zhonghua, LNG carriers are among the most dangerous ships in the world because they might explode due to a technical fault. However, they are also the safest because the ship will stop functioning immediately once there is one single incorrect operation.