Weihai Jinling Hailed for Delivering High-End Passenger Ro-Ro Ship

Liu Zhiliang

On May 24, China Merchants Jinling Shipbuilding (Weihai) Co., Ltd.delivered the seventh E-flexer series high-end passenger ro-ro ship “STENA ESTELLE” built for the shipowner Stena Line in advance via “cloud delivery”. The early delivery of the ship makes Weihai Jinling continue to top the list of delivered domestic highend passenger ro-ros.

Production and operation in good order

Th “STENA ESTELLE” is the largest scale in the E-Flexer RoPax series, with a total length of 239.7 m,27.8 m molded breadth, design draft of 6.2 m, design speed of 22 knots, lane length of 3587 m, 1200 passengers.The ship adopts a twin screw design,equipped with three bow thrusters, more convenient departure from departing and reaching port as well as PTH (Power Take Home), shore power, etc., meeting the emission requirements of European ports, and it is more environmentally friendly and intelligent.

Liu Xinnan, deputy general manager of Weihai Jinling, said that although the ship is the seventh E-flexer series high-end passenger ro-ro ship built by Weihai Jinling for Stena Line, the shipyard still faces a series of challenges in the design and construction fields due to complex technology, difficult construction and tight cycle. For example, the ship will be operated after delivery on two national routes in Sweden and Latvia,which require high safety, comfort,public area setting, especially vibration and noise must achieve comfort level 1 class notation. At the same time, due to the high center of gravity stability of the ro-ro ship, the superstructure must use a large number of sheets, hence higher requirements for the welding process and the flatness of the sheet.In addition, the STENA ESTELLE has three automobile decks, carrying different types of cars, while the port docking time is generally only 1-2 hours. In order to improve the passage efficiency of the deck, the ship is equipped with ro-on/ro-off facilities at the bow and stern.

Facing this series of challenges,Weihai Jinling has taken targeted measures. For example, strengthen cooperation with the design company,while meeting the requirements of environmental protection,greatly improve the rationality and humanization of design, meet the requirements of the owner. In view of a large number of sheets, setting up a special template manufacturing line,and use advanced techniques to ensure that the sheet does not deform and maintain the flatness. Through a series of measures, the “STENA ESTELLE”realized delivery ahead of schedule instead of delay.

Since this year, despite the impact of the epidemic, Weihai Jinling has achieved excellent results. In order to expand the car carrier market, the company signed construction contracts with the Singaporean ship owner Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) for two 7000Car dual-fiel car carriers and with Gram Car Carriers (GCC), the third largest car carrier ship owner in the world for eight car carriers. At present, Weihai Jinling automobile carrier handheld orders have reached 14 ships, ranking the first in the world.

Multi-pronged approach to break through the chain

Affected by the epidemic this year, logistics blockade, tight personnel resources, insufficient accessories,difficult personnel entry and exit,and complex equipment handover conditions have disrupted the normal production and operation rhythm in Weihai Jinling. Amidst the adverse situation, Weihai Jinling has held many special meetings to arrange and deploy production and epidemic prevention related work to ensure the steady progress of each project.

Under the epidemic situation, the biggest challenge in production comes from the impact of logistics blockade.Some suppliers and outsourcing manufacturers are greatly limited in logistics and distribution, and the supporting supply chain of materials is blocked. According to Liu Xinnan,the STENA ESTELLE is already the tenth passenger ro-ro ship delivered by Weihai Jinling, and it has accumulated rich experience in streamlining the supply chain and minimizing the impact of the epidemic on the supply chain.For example, for some supporting products supplied abroad, they try to let suppliers deliver goods in advance.Although the current freight increases very much, Weihai Jinling still chooses to guarantee the early delivery for suppliers within the scope of affordable freight.

When foreign engineers cannot be present, the shipyard submits the application to the relevant departments of Weihai Municipal Government in advance if such presence is a must.If it can be completed by video link,and they invite foreign engineers to give online guidance. Both parties have successfully completed the commissioning of several equipment and systems through technical cooperation. The management personnel and technicians isolated in the factory did not stop their work. They confirmed the technical solutions, design drawings and samples through the “cloud” by holding video meetings with the ship owner, so as to solve some item change problems and create favorable conditions for the timely delivery as far as possible.

After completing all the investigation and disinfection work, and ending the stationary period, Weihai Jinling started at full speed, speeding up the production rhythm, and trying its best to catch back the time lost before. During the stationary phase of the plant, the “STENA ESTELLE”sea trial was not carried out. In order to ensure that the scheduled sea trial of the ship, Weihai Jinling held several special meetings. While strictly implementing the epidemic prevention and control policies, it took the initiative to contact the government and maintained close communication with relevant departments, stepped up the coordination of resources, and ensured personnel pickup and material transport. The project team adjusted the production plan in time, rationally allocated the resources in the factory,and the professional construction personnel stuck to their posts and caught up with the progress day and night. Finally, all sea trial items of the STENA ESTELLE were completed on April 26, laying a solid foundation for the early delivery of the ship.

According to the plan, Weihai Jinling will deliver two high-end roro ships to be built for Stena Line in September and December. Liu Xinnan said that in the next step, Weihai Jinling will continue to make scientific plans, coordinate epidemic prevention and control and production and operation, ride on the momentum, win the battle of epidemic prevention and control, ensure the steady progress of all projects and the smooth realization of the annual target.