Recently, construction of the 89,000 DWT methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier of Fujian Guohang Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., Ltd. (referred to as “GH”) at the Weihai Base of Wuhu Shipyard Co., Ltd. has successfully commenced. This project is a new effort of China Classification Society (CCS) to work closely with the industry to create a net zero emission intelligent bulk carrier design scheme.

This ship is equipped with a methanol dual-fuel  power system that can use bio-diesel, and has an optimized methanol fuel tank capacity, which can directly achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from the ship while balancing the economy of operation through flexible fuel structure ratio.

In the early stage of ship type development, CCS Shanghai Rules & Research Institute has closely cooperated with Fujian Guohang Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., Ltd. and the designer Shanghai Bestway Marine Engineering Design Co., Ltd. to carry out a lot of technical research and ship type optimization in terms of overall ship performance, compartment arrangement, hull structure, methanol dual-fuel system as well as economic analysis, intelligent system, etc., thus achieved a saving and optimization of about 2% of steel investment compared to similar ships, and reduced the weight of empty ship and further improved the energy efficiency level of the ship. At the same time, a high-level ship intelligent system was configured to further improve the safety, reliability, operation, and management efficiency of the ship, and reduce the cost of ship operation and management. With the full cooperation of all parties, an innovative scheme of net zero emission intelligent ocean-going cargo ship type was proposed.

The ship was issued with the GDA Ship Type Approval Certificate by CCS at the end of 2023. In the formal plan approval stage, CCS Shanghai Rules & Research Institute has attached great importance to this project, organized an experienced plan approval team to frequently communicate and exchange ideas with the design team, and carried out a great deal of detailed calculation and analysis. The optimization scheme provided in the ship type development stage has been addressed in the approved drawings. A suggestion for optimizing structural dimensions and node design was proposed to achieve the goal of reducing the weight of empty ship by 300t while ensuring the construction progress of the first ship, which was highly recognized by all parties.

At the construction stage of this project, Weihai Survey Station under CCS Qingdao Branch has attached great importance to construction survey of this ship. In the early stage of design, Weihai station has made close contact with the shipowner, shipyard, designer and other relevant parties, solved multiple technical problems encountered during the design process for clients with strong technical skills and warm services, thus providing guarantee for the safety of ships and the smooth commencement of construction and completion and delivery of ships in the future.

Ship Characteristics

Concept Drawing

CCS looks forward to working closely with the industry in development and optimization of various ship types, and is dedicated to providinghigh-quality technical services to all clients, contributing to the high-quality development of the shipping and shipbuilding industries.