A CNY 2.3 billion (USD 345 million, EUR 299 million) deal will see China’s leading state-owned shipbuilder supply a service fleet to one of the country’s offshore aquaculture players.
The first such vessel, a bulk carrier specially adapted for transporting feed and live fish to and from offshore aquaculture platforms, was built by China Shipbuilding and Shipbuilding Corporation.
The “Min De” was launched at Dalian with a red carpet signing ceremony for what has been billed as the first “side-opening aquaculture work vessel,” which will ferry feed to offshore cages operated by Dongfang (also known as “Oriental”) Fisheries in the sea boundaries waters between China and Russia’s Far East.
Sitting alongside senior CSSC executives at the launch was Dongfang Fishery Chairman Qiu Laizhong, and Sun Yanlai, the CEO of Hainan Minde Marine Development Co., which owns the vessel and will lease it to Oriental. Two years ago, Minde Marine, filed the patent for the “side-opening” design of the new vessel. Also at the ceremony was Dalian Deputy Mayor Jin Guowei and Fan Qiang, vice president of the China Classification Society, which has certified the vessel.
Offshore aquaculture is proving a boon for China’s shipyards. CSSC is also working on an order for aquaculture supply ships from Qingdao Guoxin Development (Group) Co., Ltd, a state holding company that has invested in the seafood industry in recent years.
Given their deep pockets and large borrowing ability, which allows them to finance the cash-intensive installations required, China’s state-owned companies the offshore aquaculture space. State-owned firms, run by Communist Party officials, are also well placed to secure licenses.
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