Massive new container vessel delivered in Dalian

Ultra large container vessel COSCO Shipping Gemini, with a capacity of 20,119 20-foot equivalent units, was delivered to its owner on April 10 in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

"It is the first domestic container vessel that breaks the technical monopoly of Japanese and Korean shipyards on crack arrest steel," said Zhu Ping, project manager of 20,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container vessels for Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co.

The vessel's hatch coamings and main deck used 1,911 tons of 85 millimeter-thick crack arrest steel plates produced by Anshan-based Ansteel Group, Zhu said.

COSCO Shipping Gemini is 399.8 meters long, 58.6 meters wide and 30.5 meters deep. With a deck area equivalent to the size of four standard football fields, it can transport more than 20,000 seven-seat SUVs at a time.

DSIC and Beijing-based COSCO Shipping Lines group signed a contract for the manufacture of two 20,000 TEU container vessels in 2015 and became one of China's first manufacturers of 20,000 TEU container vessels.

Based in Dalian, DSIC built the country's first domestically developed aircraft carrier. It is a subsidiary of State-owned shipbuilding giant China Shipbuilding Industry Corp.

DSIC made some prospective designs for COSCO Shipping Gemini.

Considering the possibility that the ship might use cleaner fuel such as liquefied natural gas, a device system for that type of fuel is reserved on board. It can meet the needs of retrofitting and upgrading of liquefied natural gas fuel tanks for specific routes and adapt to more severe emission requirements in the future.

A new 20,000 TEU container vessel is delivered in Dalian. [Photos by Zhang Tuo/For chinadaily.com.cn]