China Reveals World’s Largest Container Ship Design at SMM Hamburg Maritime Exhibition

China has made a groundbreaking advancement in maritime engineering and took the concept of Ultra-Large Container Ships to another level by revealing the design concept for a 27,500 TEU LNG Dual-Fuel Container Ship.

The design has received the Approval in Principle or AiP at the SMM Hamburg Maritime Exhibition held this week.

This design concept for the container vessel called Green Sealion has been developed by the Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute, a subsidiary of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).

If constructed, the vessel would be the largest boxship in the world by capacity. From 2010 onwards, Ultra Large Container Ships have been famous as they provide benefits of economies of scale which decrease cost per TEU shipped.

The biggest of these vessels are limited to maritime lanes between Asia and Europe, also in dimensions by the Suez Canal and the port capacities in North Europe.

The Green Sealion is efficient and its rated capacity is 15% more than the present ultra-large ships. It will have an optimised hull and LNG dual-fuel propulsion to align with the regulations of the IMO regarding a decrease in carbon emissions. It will also be able to connect to shore power making it eco-friendly, though no dimensions were released.

Apart from this vessel, the developer also talked about a smaller series of ships, including the Green Sealion 20000, a 20,000 TEU Ammonia dual-fuel containership and the Green Sealion 16000, a 16,000 TEU LNG Dual-fuel container ship.

These designs show Chinese efforts to carve their place in the construction market of high-tech, next-generation container ships.

China also wants to challenge South Korean shipyards which focus on building high-value ships, new technologies like automation and future fuels like ammonia.

South Korea and Japan dominate the market for construction of LNG-powered ships, but recently Chinese yards have also received many orders for alternate fuel ships.

In 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a 7-year plan to reign in the green shipbuilding market.

To achieve this, China would develop robust supply chains for quick delivery of alternate fuel vessels. It also includes a roadmap to accelerate research and development on methanol and ammonia as marine fuels as well as other viable options.

Reference: Safety4Sea

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