Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company has built the largest heavy lifting vessel in the world which can carry up to 12,000 tons. The vessel, which took eight years to design and build, was awarded a special prize at the 19th China International Industry Fair in Shanghai.
Seen as a symbol of China's growing engineering prowess in ocean technologies, the Zhenhua 30 was previously tested in front of representatives from ABS class society, domestic and international clients and the Chinese and Korean government. In these tests, the single boom crane was able to life 7,700 tons in revolving mode and 13,200 tons when tied back.
The vessel has a 12 knot transit speed and can provide accomodation for 380 people.
The Shanghai Shipyard has built up a reputation for designing and constructing the largest offshore vessels for construction, having completed 18 specialty vessels since 2005 that have cranes capable of lifting 2000 tons or more. It maintains a fleet of 23 transportation vessels, 18 tug boats, 25 barges and five shear leg cranes in addition to two heavy lift vessels.
The yard has also formed a partnership with OffshoreTech to create ZPMC-OTL marine contractor that aims to provide the offshore energy market with specialized vessels and planning and construction of complex offhore projects. They are a full service firm that stays with a project from conception to decommission.