Chinese Cranes for Russian Shipyard
Zvezda Far East Shipyard has ordered nine cranes from China’s Nantong COSCO Heavy Industry Co.,Ltd(CHIC) for the giant Zvezda shipyard project being developed in the Russian Far East. The contract signing ceremony was held in the presence of Igor Sechin, Chairman of Russian oil company Rosneft.
According to the contract, CHIC is to supply equipment with unique characteristics to the construction site of Zvezda shipyard in 2016-2017 – a 1200 t Goliath crane, four 320 t cranes and four 100 t cranes.
In addition, Zvezda Far East Shipyard and Suzhou Dafang Special Vehicle Co. Ltd have signed a contract for the supply of five self-propelled heavy transporters. The document was signed by Evgeny Kraynov and Huang Jinghui, General Manager of Suzhou Dafang Special Vehicle Co., Ltd. Suzhou Dafang Special Vehicle is to supply two 650 t transporters, two 320 t transporters and one 150 t transporter.
Igor Sechin said: “The contracts awarded today are an example of mutually beneficial cooperation with our Chinese partners. Chinese companies are among the leaders of the industry. Deliveries of unique shipbuilding equipment will facilitate the task of building one of the leading shipyards in the world.”
The Zvezda shipyard project is being developed by a consortium of Rosneft and Gazprombank, a the request of Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.
The Zvezda shipbuilding complex will be the first large-tonnage dockyard in Russia manufacturing ships with launching weight up to 40 k tons.
According to data found on Rosnef’ts website the Zvezda Shipyard project is being built in three stages. Zvezda’s first stage will enable the construction of mid-tonnage ships and marine facilities. The second stage will be to commission a dry dock and full-cycle production shops to build large-tonnage vessels and marine facilities. The third stage will be to start a dry dock with production facilities to build offshore marine facilities in the Five Hunters Bay.
Application of advanced large-block shipbuilding techniques will allow placing a unique 1200 t Goliaf-type crane in a heavy shipbuilding way. This is the first facility of that type in Russian shipyards, Rosneft said.
To remind, back in September 2015, Rosneft ordered two reinforced ice-class multi-functional support vessels to be built at Zvezda Shipyard.
The contracts were signed in development of the exclusive agreement signed by the parties in 2014 that provided for placing all shipbuilding orders at the facilities of the complex.
Rosneft will have the option to order two more similar serial-built vessels. According to Rosneft, the 100 meters long vessels will be capable of operating in harsh conditions, supporting its implementation of offshore projects in the northern seas.
