Sinopacific Delivers CROWN 63
On February 27th, nearly 200 shipping professionals including ship owners, bankers, ship brokers, governmental officers, suppliers and media staff attended the press conference for the lead ship of CROWN 63 series of Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group in Yangzhou City, China. In the conference, SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group introduced to the guests its self designed CROWN 63 (63,500 DWT) Ultra-max bulk carrier and announced the sea trial result.
Mr. Simon Liang, Chairman and CEO of SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group, Dr. Uwe Hollenbach from HSVA and Mr. Bernard Anne from BV attended the conference.
CROWN63 is an upgraded version of SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group’s CROWN 58 (58,000 DWT) bulk carrier. After more than 3 years of design and several optimizations by the design team, the carrying efficiency, environmental protection, operation & maintenance convenience, vibration and other indicators of the vessel have significantly improved and reached advanced international standards. At present, CROWN 63 is holding leading market share of Ultra-max bulk carrier market according to order book.
In regards to carrying efficiency, the CROWN63 has an increased loading capacity of 9% and reduced fuel consumption by 13% maintaining the original speed, saving approximately US$ 800,000 a year in fuel costs for the ship owner through innovations in optimizing the ship hull line, utilization of the Nakashima large diameter propeller and installation of more powerful electric engine. Moreover, CROWN63 is equipped with four 35-ton cranes, greatly improving its discharging capacity.
As for environmental protection, the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) of CROWN63 match the advanced standards stipulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO): EEDI of CROWN63 now reduced by up to 20%. Therefore, CROWN63 obtained the global first EEDI certificate issued by the BV. In addition, CROWN63 is also equipped with the ballast water treatment system which meets the latest specifications of the IMO and holds the green ship certificate issued by the BV.
In addition to operational and maintenance friendliness, CROWN63 has equipped citadel against piracy attack, thus alleviating the worries of the voyage team to the maximum degree.
In the conference, Simon Liang said, “The debut of the lead ship of CROWN63 series indicates another milestone achievement of SINOPACIFIC’s strategic practice of focusing on niche markets and areas with high entrance-level and technology barrier.” Simon Liang further revealed that SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group will recently enter the intention of cooperation with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for jointly optimizing the design of the 82,000 DWT Kamsarmax bulk carrier. The cooperation with the bulk carrier expert of Japan will maintain SINOPACIFIC’s leading position in the niche market of bulk carriers.
Zhao Ye, Chief Technology Officer of the SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group, answered questions on CROWN63 design issues onsite. Many ship owners also expressed strong interest in CROWN63. They said that despite the decline of the world shipping market, new ships with improved fuel efficiency will continue to be welcomed regardless of market conditions.
In the end of February, SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group held a grand naming and delivery ceremony at its Yangzhou Dayang Shipyard to deliver the first CROWN63 Ultra-max bulk carrier to the European ship owner. It was reported that the first CROWN63 is also the 100th bulk carrier delivered by Dayang Shipyard.
Source: SINOPACIFIC Shipbuilding Group
