Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People watch a model of electricity-powered container ship during the Tianjin International Shipping Industry Expo 2024 in Tianjin, north China, July 11, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Shipyards in south China’s Guangzhou, one of the country’s top shipbuilding bases, are operating at full capacity this summer as they secure surging orders for high-tech, low-carbon vessels aimed at meeting global green shipping targets.
Last month, Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited began constructing a 230-meter-long LNG dual-fuel car carrier for a client in the Republic of Korea. The vessel will rank among the world’s largest of its type, and will be powered by both fuel oil and natural gas.
General manager Zhou Xuhui said the company has more than 90 ships on order, 80 percent of which are designed as high-tech, high-value-added green vessels. Deliveries are scheduled through 2028.
Also in June, CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Company Limited started building China’s first LPG/liquid ammonia carrier powered by ammonia and another fuel.
Ammonia, a major chemical industry feedstock, has a high energy density and due to its carbon-free nature, produces only water and nitrogen when fully combusted. This makes it a highly promising fuel for decarbonizing shipping.
A company executive told Xinhua that Huangpu Wenchong currently holds orders for 16 such gas carriers, and has made independent breakthroughs in small and medium-sized gas ship technology, while expanding into new-energy ship markets to support low-carbon growth.
In the first four months of 2025, the company secured over 13.7 billion yuan (about 1.92 billion U.S. dollars) in new contracts, up 111 percent year on year.
Also in June, the world’s first pure ammonia-powered demonstration vessel, the Anhui, successfully completed its maiden voyage in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, marking a major step forward for green shipping.
Guangdong Province, a major shipbuilding base in China, has maintained growth momentum despite a slowdown in global orders. From January to May, Guangdong’s output of completed ships rose 2.5 percent year on year, and its order backlog increased 29.3 percent, according to the provincial shipbuilding industry association.
Guangzhou, which is Guangdong’s capital city, has developed a complete shipbuilding supply chain, said Chen Jianrong, secretary-general of the association.
Local authorities have pledged to continue building Guangzhou into a hub for marine innovation, targeting cutting-edge sectors such as the deep sea, green and smart marine industries.
“Guangzhou was born by the sea and thrives because of the sea,” said Guo Yonghang, Party chief of the city. “We must accelerate the cultivation of new quality productive forces in the marine sector and strengthen breakthroughs in key core technologies.”
After over a decade of research, Guangzhou HG Marine Co., Ltd. has developed a globally leading rim-driven electric propulsion system for ships.
According to Qiu Xiangyao, head of HG Marine, traditional ship propellers generate significant underwater noise that can scare away fish, and their mechanical drives can also cause oil pollution in the sea. That is why many countries are turning to rim-driven electric thrusters, which feature zero pollution, low noise, and high efficiency.
“The company has maintained strong growth this year, with orders surging and production scheduled more than a year ahead,” said Qiu, who added that the export of the megawatt-class rim thrusters has opened up broader international markets for the company and secured stable orders for future ocean-going fishery processing vessels.
As Guangzhou ramps up its shipbuilding innovation and green technology, this momentum reflects a broader push across China and the global shipping industry to cut carbon emissions.
Following years of intense negotiations, nations reached a landmark agreement in April to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping by setting mandatory fuel standards and introducing an industry-wide carbon pricing mechanism.
The framework, approved by the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization, is the first to combine mandatory emissions limits and greenhouse gas pricing across an entire industry sector.
Scheduled for formal adoption in October 2025 and implementation by 2027, the measures will apply to large ocean-going vessels exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage, which are responsible for approximately 85 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from the global shipping fleet.
Countries around the world are advancing green shipping through the adoption of clean energy and technology upgrades. China, positioning itself as a strong advocate of sustainable shipping, rolled out an action plan at the end of 2023 to build a preliminary green shipbuilding development system by 2025.
Several breakthroughs have already emerged. In March, the world’s first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with a carbon capture and storage facility was delivered in Shanghai.
By capturing the carbon dioxide generated during sailing and oil production and using the exhaust heat energy to generate electricity, the AGOGO FPSO, measuring 333 meters in length and 60 meters in width, can achieve both environmental protection and energy savings.