Have a ship in China? The long transit time to shipyards in Singapore may be a thing of the past as COSCO’s Zhoushan is aggressively moving into the cruise ship refit and repair world.
Having worked on the Ovation of the Seas, Golden Era and Glory Sea, Zhoushan has gotten its feet wet in the cruise industry over the last two years, according to the 2019 Drydocking and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.
The competitive edge the COSCO facility includes its location and a huge gantry crane, according to Jianhua Zhou, managing director, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan).
There are only a handful of yards in China that can handle big cruise ships, limiting opportunities for refits.
Also helping is COSCO itself, with a network of shipyards in China and lots of experience to fall back on.
As China moves into cruise ship building and repair, the entire community is learning to support the industry together.
“We have 2,000 people moving in and out, 3,000 people working and 200 containers moving in and out of the shipyard at any one time.” said Zhou.
As the cruise industry is still relatively new in China, handling and streamlining customs clearance and logistics is a new ballgame.
From an operator point of view, uncertainty whether parts will be approved or when they will be approved including chemicals, spare parts and more pose a risk.
Zhou added that constant communication with the authorities is important to get things done.
The long term plan, he said, is to have six to eight cruise ships in his drydock on an annual basis.
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Go inside the world of cruise ship drydocking and refurbishment with the 2019 Cruise Industry News Drydocking and Refurbishment Report, presenting a 100-page overview of the $3 billion annual cruise ship drydock and refit market including a full 2019, 2020, 2021 estimated drydocking scheduled based on available data and research.
The report offers interviews with key drydocking executives from cruise lines, suppliers and shipyards, as well as case studies, trend reports and much more.
