Vessel Particulars

Vessel Name: “Shandong Hexie” (World’s First of Its Kind)

Vessel Type: 250,000 DWT Ore Carrier (New-Generation Green & High-Efficiency Type)

Delivery Date: November 18, 2014

Builder: Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.

Designer: China Ship Design & Research Center Co., Ltd.

Shipowner: Shandong Shipping Corporation

Classification & Survey: Single Class by China Classification Society (CCS)

Operating Route: Scheduled iron ore transportation between China and Port Hedland, Australia

The vessel won the First Prize of the 2016 Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. With independent intellectual property rights, the ship type leads the international peer vessels in safety, energy saving, environmental protection and operational efficiency. Its sister ship “Shandong Zhengtong” was included in the “Significant Ships of 2015” by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), setting a design benchmark for the new generation ultra-large ore carriers.

Against the crucial period when China is transforming from a major shipbuilding country to a strong one, the successful construction and delivery of the world’s first 250,000 DWT ore carrier “Shandong Hexie” marks a key milestone of independent innovation for China’s shipbuilding industry. With full-process technical support, all-round quality control and fully independent technological breakthroughs, CCS escorted this “national key vessel” from design drawings to deep-sea navigation. The successful construction of the vessel has established China’s global leading position in the field of ultra-large ore carriers and set a typical benchmark for industry development.

On November 18, 2014, the world’s first 250,000 DWT ore carrier “Shandong Hexie”, built by Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry and operated by Shandong Shipping Corporation, was officially delivered, launching a new journey of scheduled iron ore transportation between China and Australia. As the first 250,000 DWT ore carrier independently designed, constructed and classed in China, the construction of “Shandong Hexie” faced many technical challenges such as large tonnage, large openings and high stress concentration. CCS’s in-depth participation throughout the process provided critical support for solving these difficulties, acting as the “technical escort” for the smooth delivery and safe operation of the vessel.

In the design stage, CCS laid a solid foundation for vessel safety and high efficiency through rule guidance and technological innovation. In view of the complex characteristics of heavy load, partial load and wave loads of 250,000 DWT ore carriers, CCS formulated technical standards including the Guidelines on Advanced Buckling Assessment of Hull Structures for Ore Carrier, filling the gap of domestic design standards for large ore carriers. Meanwhile, CCS established an exclusive structural safety evaluation system for heavy-duty ore carriers and customized technical requirements for the vessel. Relying on CCS independently developed software such as global finite element analysis and fatigue calculation, CCS independently completed high-precision calculation and assessment of global structural strength, fatigue strength and buckling strength, overcoming the core technical difficulty of high stress concentration in large-opening cargo holds. By optimizing hull lines, cargo hold arrangement and joints design, CCS realized the organic unity of lightweight, refined and long-life structure, ensuring the safety of heavy-duty transportation and laying a foundation for energy-saving and efficient operation. In addition, CCS focused on verifying and optimizing the ultimate condition performance such as heavy-duty stability and unsinkability to ensure the safe operation of the vessel under complex sea conditions.

In the construction stage, CCS controlled every key point of shipbuilding through full-process on-site survey and refined quality management. CCS set up a professional survey team to carry out full-process and all-weather on-site surveys from plan approval, steel plate cutting and block manufacturing to berth erection, mooring test and sea trial, implementing quality control throughout the construction. For core processes such as high-strength steel welding and heavy plate processing, CCS carried out special surveys and approvals, strictly controlling the quality of classed products including hull materials and electromechanical equipment to ensure all onboard equipment comply with CCS rules and international standards. Meanwhile, CCS innovatively established a construction accuracy control and risk early warning mechanism for ultra-large vessels, implemented closed-loop management of quality problems, and timely solved technical difficulties during construction. This not only ensured all indicators of the first-of-class vessel meet or exceed standards, but also helped advance delivery, providing mature survey procedures and quality standards for mass construction of the same type of vessels and supporting efficient mass production of sister ships of “Shandong Hexie”.

In the system certification and follow-up stages, relying on full-system survey and certification capability and professional green technical support, CCS fully promoted the efficient and environment-friendly operation of “Shandong Hexie” and practiced the development philosophy of green shipping. As the sole classification society of the vessel, CCS strictly followed its own rules and standards to complete the survey, test and certification of the whole systems including hull, machinery, electrical, fire protection and pollution prevention for “Shandong Hexie”. CCS issued the CCS single class certificate and a number of green ship-related notations, fully verifying that all vessel performances comply with rule requirements and international standards, laying a solid foundation for safe and compliant operation.

To meet the green and environmental protection development needs of the vessel, CCS gave full play to its professional and technological advantages, fully approved its high-voltage shore power system and issued relevant certificates, helping the vessel achieve zero emissions during port calls and successfully selected as a national-level shore power demonstration project, practicing low-carbon shipping requirements. Meanwhile, relying on technical standards such as CCS Rules for Green Ships, CCS supported the vessel in EEDI energy efficiency design and verified its technical scheme of reducing fuel consumption by about 25%, ensuring the vessel’s energy efficiency meets IMO’s advanced environmental requirements and highlighting the advantages of the green ship type. In the follow-up, CCS continued to empower the green upgrade of “Shandong Hexie” and issued the world’s first “Solar Photovoltaic System (SPV)” class certificate for the intelligent photovoltaic power generation system installed on the main engine. Adopting advanced three-phase micro-inversion technology, the system can reduce annual fuel consumption by 33 tons and carbon emission by 102.8 tons, continuously supporting the green and low-carbon operation of the vessel and providing technical benchmarks and practical experience for the industry’s green transformation.