Four Zhoushan shipyards “dominate the rankings”! Chinese shipyards monopolize the global ship repair market.

Four Zhoushan shipyards “dominate the rankings”! Chinese shipyards monopolize the global ship repair market.

International Ship Network   March 14

Xinya Shipping

Located in Liuheng, Putuo, Xinya Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Ltd. is the largest private shipyard in China. Having gone through pivotal stages of development—including relocation and reconstruction, the global financial crisis, strategic industry partnerships, and transformation and upgrading—Xinya Shipbuilding has now reached its 19th year since its establishment. It has grown into an industry leader, boasting three major production bases with a capacity of “four dry docks and ten berths,” ranking seventh among global ship repair enterprises while firmly maintaining its position as the top private shipyard in China.

Since 2014, Xinya Shipbuilding has adjusted its production structure, gradually shifting from a focus on repairing low‑value‑added vessels such as bulk carriers to the maintenance of high‑value‑added ships including oil and chemical tankers, wind power installation vessels, and dredging vessels. At the same time, the company has risen to the challenge by upgrading its hardware facilities and management standards, embarking on the development of “6S” standard workshops with a total investment exceeding 100 million yuan. To date, the company has established six “6S” workshops.

In addition to ship repair, Xinya is also pursuing business transformation. To this end, Xinya has seized the market opportunity presented by the growing demand for desulfurization equipment installation and successfully secured orders for desulfurization tower modifications. Faced with large-scale desulfurization tower modification projects, tight dock repair schedules, extended berthing times, high process complexity, and a shortage of human resources, the company independently developed and invented a ship desulfurization tower installation platform and lifting device. These innovations not only ensured the progress of desulfurization tower modifications on ships but also enhanced production efficiency and safety. According to survey data from Clarkson Research in the UK, Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard Co., Ltd. has now entered the global top ten in terms of desulfurization equipment modification volume. With the implementation of international ship desulfurization standards in 2020, major shipping companies have ushered in a peak year for ship repairs, and Xinya Shipyard’s annual ship repair volume exceeded 400 vessels in 2020.

Zhoushan COSCO KHI Heavy Industry

In 2020, Zhoushan COSCO KHI Shipbuilding’s ship repair system continued to seize market opportunities, intensified its efforts in scientific and technological innovation, enhanced its ship repair and modification expertise, further solidified its competitive edge in the high-end modification sector, and steadily expanded, optimized, and strengthened its ship repair business. Throughout the year, the company completed repairs and modifications on 197 vessels, achieving a record high in ship repair output value and surpassing shipbuilding revenue for the first time.

Zhoushan COSCO KHI Heavy Industry continues to deeply embrace green and environmentally friendly principles, actively promoting ultra-high‑pressure water blasting for rust removal while achieving integrated vacuum recovery of wastewater. The company has developed outdoor spray painting equipment for VOCs collection and recovery, accelerated the upgrading and renovation of paint booths and other facilities, and advanced the controlled emission of VOCs. By signing strategic cooperation agreements with Zhejiang Fashijie, COSCO Jotun, and other partners, the company is strengthening innovation in environmental protection processes and independently developing cutting‑edge environmental technologies, all in an effort to build a “garden‑like factory.” In 2020, the company was recognized as a “Zhoushan Green Ship Repair Demonstration Enterprise” and a “Clean Production Enterprise of Zhejiang Province.”

Zhoushan COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry continues to intensify its research and application of new technologies such as green ship repair and smart ship repair. In conjunction with the “Zhoushan 5G+ Smart Ship Repair and Construction” initiative, it is actively collaborating with the China Classification Society (CCS) and China Mobile Communications Group (CMCC) to leverage 5G+AR remote inspection technology and 5G+drone close‑range inspection technology, successfully completing the annual ship inspection of the 230,000‑dwt ore carrier “Renda” remotely for the first time. Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the value of remote inspection, services, and guidance has become even more pronounced, providing customers with a more transparent and traceable mechanism for controlling ship repair operations on site.

Longshan Shipyard

Longshan Shipyard is the first shipyard in Liuheng and one of the oldest ship repair and construction facilities in Zhejiang. Longshan Shipyard has trained a large number of skilled technicians and management professionals in ship repair and construction, earning it the reputation of being the “Whampoa Military Academy” of the shipbuilding and repair industry.

Beginning around 2015, the sluggish global shipping market forced ship repair and construction enterprises to undergo transformation and upgrading. Longshan Shipyard also began adjusting and optimizing its industrial structure, gradually shifting from a product mix centered on bulk carrier maintenance to one that focuses on high‑value-added vessels such as oil and chemical tankers and cement roll-on/roll-off ships. At the same time, the shipyard increased investment in technological upgrades, promoted green ship repair practices, attracted top-tier technical talent, and enhanced the professional and technical capabilities of frontline staff, progressively transitioning from conventional repairs to higher‑tech conversion projects and high‑value‑added vessel maintenance services.

Since last year, Longshan Shipyard has seized the opportunity to retrofit desulfurization towers, partnering with Shandong Pesen Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. to develop a desulfurization tower project with a total investment of nearly 100 million yuan, and has also launched a 50 million yuan desulfurization tower manufacturing project. On March 18 last year, the completion and delivery ceremony for the first set of desulfurization towers of Zhoushan Longchuan Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. was held at Zhoushan Longshan Shipyard Co., Ltd.

Zhoushan Pacific Offshore Engineering

Pacific Marine Engineering (Zhoushan) Co., Ltd. is one of the six leading enterprises in Zhoushan’s shipbuilding and offshore engineering equipment industry, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Pacific China Group (Zhoushan) Private Limited, which is part of the Singapore Kuo Brothers Group. The company operates one of the largest shipyards in Zhoushan, capable of undertaking maintenance and repair work on ultra-large bulk carriers weighing up to 400,000 tons. It has now transformed into a repair yard whose primary business is ship repair, focusing on the repair markets of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, with its vessel types ranging from bulk carriers and container ships to oil tankers and ultra‑large bulk carriers.

In recent years, international organizations have been tightening their requirements for green ship repair. As a result, global operating fleets are facing increasing demands for ship repairs that comply with numerous environmental regulations. Pacific Marine Engineering (Zhoushan) Co., Ltd. has seized the business opportunities created by the international “sulfur cap,” fully leveraging its specialized technical expertise to expand its operations. To date, the company has completed a total of 54 retrofit projects for exhaust gas desulfurization systems on vessels. In 2020, Pacific Marine Engineering (Zhoushan) Co., Ltd. successfully repaired and delivered 180 ships, representing a year‑on‑year increase of 25%, with a total output value reaching 900 million yuan, up 38% compared to the previous year.

Wanbang Yongyue

In addition to the four companies mentioned above, Zhoushan is also home to another ship repair enterprise: Zhoushan Wanbang Yongyue Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Ltd. Although Wanbang Yongyue did not make the top ten this time, it is undoubtedly the “model student” of China’s ship repair industry and a pioneer of China’s “green ship repair” philosophy.

At the beginning of 2021, Zhoushan Wanbang Yongyue Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Ltd. got off to a strong start in production, with nearly 30 ship repair orders in hand during the first quarter. Last year, the company repaired a total of 133 vessels, maintaining an average of more than 12 ships on site per day, generating a production value of 1.15 billion yuan and achieving post-tax profits exceeding 400 million yuan—placing its profitability among the top performers in the national ship repair industry. According to the 2020 Ship Repair Performance Analysis released by the Ship Repair Branch of the China Association for International Trade in Ships, Zhoushan Wanbang Yongyue Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Ltd. was ranked as the most profitable enterprise across the entire industry nationwide.

Wanbang Yongyue is a pioneer in the “green ship repair” concept. In recent years, Wanbang Yongyue has successively developed cutting‑edge vacuum ultra‑high‑pressure water jet rust removal tools such as the “Dock Warrior” and “Dock Elephant” robots, completely phasing out high‑pollution sandblasting for rust removal. According to statistics, over the past four years, Wanbang Yongyue’s operating net profit has exceeded 700 million yuan, while also reducing the use of hazardous copper ore dust by more than 300,000 tons. With the introduction of new equipment, an increasing number of foreign shipowners are choosing to have their ro‑ro vessels, chemical tankers, cruise ships, and other high‑value‑added vessels repaired at Wanbang Yongyue.

In recent years, leveraging its favorable geographical advantages and extensive port coastline, the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone has been actively developing into an international green ship repair base. Last year, the “Standardized Management of Green Ship Repair Enterprises” initiative within the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone was selected as one of the sixth batch of reform pilot experiences and subsequently promoted nationwide. In 2020, the ship repair industry in Zhoushan also experienced growth against the trend, with numerous overseas shipowners choosing to come to Zhoushan for ship repairs and maintenance, and many foreign vessels lining up to wait for entry into port for repairs.

According to statistics, in 2020, Zhoushan City repaired 1,900 foreign‑flagged vessels, generating an output value of 5.3 billion yuan, a 20% increase.

The high profit margins stem from green ship repair. For years, Zhoushan’s shipbuilding enterprises have focused on adopting advanced, environmentally friendly ship repair technologies such as high‑pressure water blasting for rust removal, which has effectively reduced costs. At the same time, by seizing the opportunity presented by the sulfur scrubber retrofit business over the past two years, they have shifted away from conventional ship repair approaches and opted for repairing higher‑value vessels—such as oil‑chemical tankers and cruise ships—whose profits are more than ten times greater.

At the same time, major shipbuilding enterprises such as COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry and Xinya Shipbuilding have tailored and implemented specific green ship repair technical standards—including the “6S Workshop Management Standards for Electromechanical Workshops in Ship Repair and Construction Enterprises,” the “Ultra-High-Pressure Water Jetting Process Standards for Ships,” and the “Technical Specifications for Steel Utilization in Ship Repair and Construction Enterprises”—which have significantly enhanced their core competitiveness.

In recent years, international organizations have been tightening their requirements for green ship repair. As a result, the global fleet is facing increasing demands for ship repairs to comply with numerous environmental regulations, with the primary focus on installing desulfurization towers and retrofitting ballast water treatment systems. Consequently, over the past year, Xinya Shipbuilding, Zhoushan COSCO KHI Heavy Industries, and Longshan Shipyard have secured a large volume of projects involving desulfurization tower installations and ballast water treatment system retrofits, ushering in a peak period for ship repair.