New tanker and bulker expert team in China supports global newbuild projects

China has been experiencing an exceptional shipbuilding boom since the global economy began recovering from the pandemic. While containerships have been dominating newbuild orders in recent years, the demand for new tankers and bulk carriers is soaring, driven by many new requirements older tonnage cannot meet, especially in the context of decarbonization and digitalization. In response, DNV has created a team of experts to provide fast and efficient information to Chinese designers, yards, cargo owners and shipowners, helping them understand and implement new requirements and technologies while assuring highest quality.

Supporting the transformation of the global fleet

“Based on our market forecast, we estimate that more than 1,700 tankers and 2,900 bulk carriers will need to be replaced in the coming 5 years,” explains Jing Yang Sunny Li, Ship Type Expert for tankers at DNV China. China is the most important country for bulk and tanker newbuild projects, he adds. “According to Clarksons, 66% of bulk carrier and 63% of oil tanker newbuild orders, measured in gross tonnage, are placed in China, while in 2023 close to 80% of the bulker orders were awarded to Chinese yards.”

The transformation of the global fleet in this age of change brings both challenges and opportunities to the shipping industry, the expert points out. “The emergence of new fuels, in particular LNG, methanol and ammonia, along with new efficiency-enhancing technologies and new rules and regulations have led to new levels of sophistication. This calls for closer cooperation among all stakeholders to ensure quality, improved efficiency and innovation. We also want DNV to be the trusted voice in China in tackling this global transformation.”

New shipyards in great need of experienced support

Eastern Asian shipyards are busier than ever. Even the established yards in China are finding it difficult to keep up with incoming tanker and bulker orders, says Li. “Current delivery dates for new orders start at the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028. Therefore, we are seeing new shipyards entering the bulker and tanker newbuild market. This year they have taken many orders from Greek tanker owners. The question for DNV has been: how can we support our customers to assure quality, so the vessels delivered are up to the owners’ expectations?”

The Chinese shipbuilding industry has many players, and the logistics of providing the know-how they need can be complex. In line with its customer-centric approach, DNV decided to make access to DNV expertise much easier for all these stakeholders. “At the same time we never compromise on quality,” Li points out. “So we have to utilize our expertise to focus on where we foresee potential risk and manage it from the beginning. The key is to cover all steps of the process, from pre-contract services to newbuild class approval, including technical workshops.”

Supporting ambitious newbuild projects from the beginning

Recent ambitious tanker newbuild projects supported by Li and his team include shuttle tankers for Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers being built at Zhoushan, and a high-standard shuttle tanker for North Sea Shipping at Dalian yard. Both vessel types are intended for operation in Brazilian waters and therefore need to be specified according to the Petrobras standard. The contract for the latter was signed in 2021, says Li, but DNV support to the yard began in 2017. DNV’s global experts organized workshops for the customer, and the ship was delivered in 2023. Furthermore, Xiangyu shipyard is building ten chemical tankers to DNV class; several very large crude carriers are on order at DSIC and NTS; and Stena is having several methanol-fuelled medium-range chemical tankers built at GSI yard. On the bulker front, numerous Ultramax and Kamsarmax orders were placed in 2023, while in 2024 a run for Newcastlemax and very large ore carriers (VLOCs) can be seen. Sophisticated dual-fuel VLOCs with wind-assisted propulsion systems ordered by Shangdong Shipping on charter to Vale marks one of the highlights, together with the unique VLOCs for Winning International Group that will transport bauxite and iron ore from the new mining project in Simandou, West Africa.

A better, more focused approach to local customer support

“Establishing the bulker and tanker expert team for China enables us to provide our expertise in a better, more focused manner,” explains Li. His colleague Can Chun Cai, Ship Type Expert for bulk carriers at DNV in Shanghai, describes the composition of the group: “The team consists of 11 plan approval experts including ship type experts for tankers and bulkers. We cover all relevant disciplines, such as project management, hull, stability, piping, fire safety, electrical, control system, machinery, cyber security and alternative fuels including containment systems. Each team member has at least 15 years of working experience in various ship size segments.”

Questions from designers, yards and owners are first collected by the DNV ship type experts and answered directly if possible. When it comes to more specialized technical details, they know how to escalate to get a timely, efficient and comprehensive answer.

Responding to a huge demand for bulk carriers

“In the past three years, we have issued more than 15 approval-in-principle statements for bulker designs in China, mainly focusing on innovative dual-fuel designs using LNG, methanol and ammonia for various bulker sizes,” says Cai. “We help our customers understand and comply with the latest rules and regulations; we review their specifications and provide feedback and recommendations; and we share expertise and best practices through workshops, forums, courses and external conferences.”

Interdisciplinary collaboration to cover all technical disciplines

The questions DNV receives often touch several technical disciplines. With the decarbonization targets looming, yards are trying their best to achieve high EEDI performance for every new vessel design. One means to that end is hull line optimization, which is in the hydrodynamic domain. However, it can have an impact on stability: optimized hull lines may require the hull structure to be adapted accordingly. This requires both hydrodynamic and structural expertise from the team. Shipyards, on the other hand, are interested in controlling costs by optimizing the steel weight. Therefore class must make sure the steel is used the proper way to optimize the structure, all with an eye on rule compliance.

Fast access is key

Can Chun Cai emphasizes the importance of efficient, speedy responses to customer questions. “Whether it is regulatory updates, clarifying rules, making suggestions, issuing approvals-in-principle or engaging in joint development projects to help ensure future-proof ship design, our customers can easily find our contact information and get in touch with us directly. Our tanker and bulker expert team is always accessible to provide timely support.”

Full-featured next-generation ore carriers

“For 325,000 dwt VLOCs, including ‘WinningMax’ ships to be built for Winning International Group at the Qingdao Beihai and Dalian Hengli shipyards, as well as second-generation Guaibamax vessels to be built at Qingdao Beihai shipyard, the expert team has cooperated with cargo owners, shipowners, yards and designers since the launch of the project in 2018,” says Cai. The experts supported the effort to optimize the design for the intended operating pattern. The WinningMax VLOC incorporates a wide range of features to optimize the transfer of bauxite cargo at a Guinean port, maximize fuel efficiency and minimize carbon emissions, including methanol fuel-readiness, a shaft generator and EEDI Phase 3 compliance. The Guaibamax VLOC is likewise designed with numerous decarbonization features such as a methanol dual-fuel system, a shaft generator as well as five rotor sails.

Close collaboration with designers

“The designs consider new energy-saving measures and technologies, special features to address the trading and operation requirements,” explains Zhang Cheng Shun, General Manager of the design company CSDC. “DNV is the leading class society for VLOCs and for alternative fuel solutions. Many thanks to the DNV project team for their continuous, valuable and timely support on the design.”

Wu Xiao Kang, Technical Manager at the design firm SDARI, emphasizes the importance of having access to comprehensive DNV expertise and support: “We as designers appreciate DNV always standing front of stage to develop reliable rules and standards and helping us find practical solutions. Our second-generation 400k dwt VLOC design was the first design in the market fully approved for loading iron ore fines that may liquefy, and DNV’s timely rules provided an established design standard. DNV also took the lead in communicating with the flag state to obtain acceptance.”

Navigating cyber security challenges with DNV’s extensive expertise

Among the many challenges facing China’s shipbuilders, cyber security is one of the latest requirements keeping designers and on-board system developers on their toes, says Li. All vessels contracted after 1 July 2024 must comply with the new IACS Unified Requirements for cyber security, UR E26/27. “So we share our experience from Oslo and Hamburg and Shanghai with our local people who speak the local language, and they will hold a workshop with the local customer to explain the new requirements and help them identify the potential gap or risk, and how it can be managed,” Li explains.

DNV’s knowledge leadership in this area is undisputed in China, he adds. “Our cyber security experts are highly regarded by local customers. I am very confident that if you went to a shipyard and asked for the best cyber security expert from class societies, one of our top two experts would be mentioned.”

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