Recently, New Times Shipbuilding held the commissioning ceremony for its 1,600-ton gantry crane, marking another major milestone in the company’s new energy vessel intelligent manufacturing project. This event also signifies that New Times Shipbuilding’s lifting capacity for constructing heavy marine equipment will achieve another breakthrough.
With the full-scale advancement of the new energy ship intelligent manufacturing project, New Times Shipbuilding has equipped Dock No. 4 with one 1600-ton × 229-meter gantry crane and one 1000-ton × 229-meter gantry crane. The 1000-ton gantry crane commenced lifting operations on September 21. After over two months, it successfully completed all scheduled testing items, passing both the type test and supervisory inspection acceptance. The installation and commissioning of the 1600-ton gantry crane have now commenced.
According to New Times Shipbuilding, both the 1,000-ton and 1,600-ton gantry cranes are single-girder, heavy-duty and long-span gantry cranes. They mainly consist of a gantry frame structure, upper and lower trolleys, crane traveling mechanisms, electrical equipment and jib slewing cranes for maintenance purposes.
In terms of dock construction, New Times Shipbuilding plans to build an ultra-large dry dock with a length of 700 meters. This new dock will be capable of constructing two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) side by side, while also accommodating two VLCC hull sections simultaneously. At present, New Times Shipbuilding is finalizing a number of new vessel orders with delivery dates scheduled for 2027 and 2028, which are designated for the planned ultra-large dry dock.
The official website indicates that New Times Shipbuilding possesses the natural conditions to construct various types of vessels up to 300,000 tons. It currently operates one 500,000-ton dry dock, one 300,000-ton dry dock, and one 100,000-ton dry dock, along with three large outfitting piers and comprehensive supporting facilities including an intelligent block manufacturing workshop and an intelligent assembly and welding workshop for large-diameter ship pipes. With the completion of the new dry dock, New Times Shipbuilding will then operate four dry docks.
With the gradual commissioning of the two cranes, the lifting capacity for assembling large ship sections at the New Times Shipbuilding will be significantly enhanced, effectively shortening docking cycles. This development holds critical strategic importance for the company in securing high-end shipbuilding and offshore engineering equipment orders while strengthening its core competitiveness.