Guangdong Shipbuilding SMEs Create High-End Business Formats

Kuang Zhanting

“After long-term difficulties，many high-quality small and mediumsized shipbuilding enterprises (SMEs)in Guangdong are still developing very well.” Guo Dacheng， president of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI)， remarked after visiting some SMEs in Guangdong.

Since the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008， the low-end production capacity of some of the country's shipbuilding enterprises has been eliminated， and the production suspension， production line change and even collapse of so Chinese shipbuilding enterprises have resulted from the decadelong downturn of the shipbuilding market.However， “He is gold that waves and sinks”. Guangdong SMEs， in finding a way out via transformation and upgrading，took the advantage of the "Belt and Road"initiative， the construction of the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong， Hong Kong and Macao to actively explore new customers and new market， and stood firm in the tide of the times and made a move towards the goal of high-quality development.

Chen Jianrong， secretary general of the Guangdong Shipbuilding Industry Association， said some gratifying signs show that Guangdong's shipbuilding industry will usher in new development.

Hammer out High-Tech Ship

In the small and medium-sized special ships， "made in Guangdong"small and medium-sized public service vessels， offshore engineering ships and other products have formed a brand. Among them， a number of high-performance ships and boats built by Jianglong Shipbuilding Co.，Ltd.， especially 60-meter ultra-highspeed ocean law enforcement ships and other classic ships have won the market recognition， working ships， pilot ships and other products built by Afai Southern Shipyard (Panyu Guangzhou) Ltd. have been favored by government departments，with stable order quantity. A number of law enforcement ships and working ships built by Guangdong K-Link Boat Co.，Ltd. are guarding and protecting the blue sea of the motherland.

On this basis， Guangdong SMEs continue to march to deep blue and cast their eyes on scientific research ships.On August 17 this year， the 26-meter scientific research ship “Qiongling Sonco” built by Jianglong Shipbuilding for the South China Sea Station of the Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was launched.“Qiongling Sonco” is the first scientific research ship built by Guangdong private shipbuilding enterprise for the country.With an overall length of 26m， 6.8m molded breadth and 100 gross ton， a"little brother" in the family of scientific research ships， it is equipped with A-frame， cable winch， micro hydrological crane and other test operation auxiliary equipment. It will be used as a mobile platform for offshore test and research in the South China Sea in the future. It will mainly be used to assist researchers to complete underwater sound test and other scientific research work in the water surface and shallow water in the South China Sea.

At present， the recovery of ocean engineering industry market is difficult to see the dawn， Guangdong shipbuilding enterprises adapt to the changes in market demand， adjust their strategies in time， and actively expand wind power operation & maintenance ship， highperformance tugboat and other markets.

Among them， the aluminum alloy professional wind power operation &maintenance ship “MO5” built by Afai Southern Shipyard for a British shipowner has been delivered. The ship can not only meet a variety of professional functional requirements for wind power operation and maintenance， but also is equipped with bow thruster， can resist waves up to 4.5m high， fresh water supply hits 55 tons， and it is a very rare multifunctional ship with fresh water transport function in the European wind power operation &maintenance ship market.

The new aluminum alloy catamaran maintenance ship being built by Jianglong Shipbuilding has completed sea trial. The ship built of aluminum alloy material has the characteristics of large deck area， strong resistance to wind and wave， good riding comfort， strong anticollision capability， and the like.

Hin Lee (Zhuhai) Shipyard Co.，Ltd. takes the high-end high-power full-swing tug as the main product of the enterprise， and the 7000PS tug will be the largest-horsepower harbor tug in China’s Hong Kong region， able to meet the towing and escort requirements of the 23000 TEU large-scale container ship and the LNG ship.

Passenger ferries are the strengths of Guangdong SMEs. Aluminum alloy high-speed passenger ships made by various shipbuilding enterprises have become the main force of water passenger transport in the Pearl River Delta， while all kinds of cruise ships are one of the most beautiful scenic spots in the Pearl River， Lijiang River and other scenic spots.

Among them， the 60-meter coastal steel-aluminum mixed luxury cruise ship built by Jianglong Shipbuilding is called"mini cruise ship in the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area， the first domestic military theme cruise ship"Blue Dolphin 16" and the waterborne mobile theater "Pearl River Red” built by K-Link Boat， " is the characteristic ship of Pearl River Night Tour， and nearly 30 yachts built by Guangdong Minhua Boat Technology Co.， Ltd. win favor of countries along the “Belt and Road” including Congo， the Philippines and Cote d’Ivoire.

Moreover， Guangdong SMEs keep up with the general trend of green energy saving， focusing on the R&D of all kinds of environmental protection ship types. Among them， Afai Southern Shipyard has made a breakthrough in the R&D of lithium battery powered new energy ships， built the 30-meter lithium battery powered aluminum alloy new energy sightseeing ship "Lijiang River Dream". Based on the construction experience of LNG powered multipurpose ship， electric propulsion cruise ship and other products， the K-Link Boat has made great efforts to develop electric ship technology， and at present its pure electric propulsion yacht has entered the construction stage. Jianglong Shipbuilding cooperates with Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co.， Ltd.Tianjin University State Key Laboratory for Internal Combustion Engine Combustion Science and other units to develop and build the first methanol fuel-powered shipi n China “Jianglong” is about to be take its seas trial..

Recently， Deqing County ，Zhaoqing City， is actively promoting the implementation of high-end shipbuilding industry， taking advantage of the opportunity of Pearl River Golden Waterway construction to aim at the requirements of ship manufacturing and maintenance in the Pearl River Delta region， and at the same time， combined with the local shipping industry， it build a complete industrial chain and build an energy-saving， efficient and environmentally friendly shipbuilding industry park. “Through the form of attracting investment， it plans 5 ship construction manufacturers， 1 ship design institute， 1 ship marine equipment manufacturer， 1 waterway transport company and 1 crew training school in the park，" Deqing County relevant sources said.

And more industries are also optimistic about the future of the shipbuilding industry， eager for "getting a piece of the pie." It is reported that enterprises including environmental protection technology and equipment，lithium batteries， new energy and other green industries， intelligent manufacturing equipment， industrial Internet and other intelligent industries are joining the Guangdong Shipbuilding Association one after another. Chen Jianrong said: "The new journey of Guangdong shipbuilding may begin soon."

New Challenges, New Opportunities

Only by raising vigilance can we move forward steadily. Guangdong SMEs adhere to the "specialized， refined，special， new" development direction，focus on promoting the formation of new business formats， but also face many new challenges. In addition to the problems of "three difficulties" of receiving orders， delivery difficulties and financing difficulties， pressure brought about by some new policies and new situations are adding variables to the future of shipbuilding enterprises: first，the external environment is complex and volatile; secondly， the rising labor costs;and finally， the excessive burden of taxes and fees.

Industry experts believe that in the next step， Guangdong SMEs should continue to make "internal work practice"， improve their own production and management level，improve the quality of ship construction，further enhance the awareness of safety and environmental protection，cultivate the ecological concept of green environmental protection， create economic benefits through compliance management and efficient operation，and fulfill social responsibilities with high-quality development by actively carrying out “Shipbuilding industry specification conditions” and other industry specifications. At the same time， we should pay special attention to the development of the legal system of the shipbuilding industry， attach great importance to the application of patent technology， give full play to the important role of patents in the technical reference of the shipbuilding industry， the protection of innovative achievements，the consolidation of market advantages，and so on， so as to promote high quality development of shipbuilding industry.

Experts suggested that SMEs can carry out process innovation appropriately， supplement the purchase of new equipment， environmental protection facilities， etc.， and improve the level of environmental protection and technology，reduce costs， increase the efficiency and improve quality. Qualified enterprises should seize the development trend of intelligent manufacturing， promote the"intelligent manufacturing" of ships， dive into market segments， develop highend ship products， and promote the technology upgrading; appropriately use the capital market and the capital means to establish the modern enterprise system and regulate the corporate governance structure， control the operation risk，effectively use the employee's incentive mechanism， retain talents， and make full use of the talents.