A Shanghai shipyard delivered the world's largest Very Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC) on Monday. It is also the first vessel delivered since the shipyard started stress tests for business and production resumption on April 23, as the mega-city of 25 million residents is gradually resuming offline businesses amid a waning COVID-19 wave.

The vessel delivered by Jiangnan Shipyard Group is a VLEC with a maximum shipping capacity of 99,000 cubic meters, and it is the largest of its kind in the world. During the trial voyage conducted from March 8 to March 19, the production team had tested and debugged more than 10 key sets of equipment and systems on the ship, with strict anti-epidemic measures in place.

Self-developed tech, ends foreign monopoly

The Type-B cabin on this vessel was made with technology solely developed by Jiangnan Shipyard, breaking foreign technological monopolies. It is capable of carrying ethylene at -104 degrees Celsius and carrying ethane at -89 degrees Celsius.

Lin Qingshan, deputy general-manager of Jiangnan Shipyard, told China Media Group (CMG) that "products like the one we delivered today - a VLEC - are made with technology independently developed by us. Thanks to efforts of market promotion, such products of ours have taken two thirds of the world's VLEC market shares."

With innovation on high-end shipping technologies, the number of orders received by Jiangnan Shipyard has kept growing despite the pandemic. So far this year, the contractual value of orders for civilian vessels received by the shipyard has reached 23.6 billion yuan ($3.49 billion), up 76 percent year on year, among them the ones received during Shanghai's lockdown period are valued at 10.7 billion yuan ($1.58 billion).

Strict measures for curbing COVID-19

Since the shipyard started stress tests for business and production resumption on April 23, more than 10,000 employees have returned to their positions in Jiangnan Shipyard, with an overall resumption rate of more than 50 percent.

For epidemic prevention and control, the shipyard set independent ventilation systems requiring on-board staff who tested positive for the coronavirus or confirmed as cases of COVID-19 infections be under quarantine immediately to curb possible further spread of COVID-19.

Zhang Jian, deputy general-manager of the Jiangnan Shipyard, also told CMG that "in the first stage, we have resumed the normal delivery process at the wharf, and we plan to reopen all shipyard production lines by the end of May. This year, we aim to deliver 16 civilian vessels, and maintain sustainable growth in vessel delivery."