On July 21, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers announced plans to invest in the construction of eight 60,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels at CSSC Chengxi Shipyard. The investment will be undertaken by COSCOL HK Investment & Development Co., Limited—a wholly-owned subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers—or one of its affiliates. The total contract price for the vessels is capped at RMB 2.624 billion (approximately US$388 million), translating to a maximum cost of RMB 328 million per vessel. The vessels are scheduled for successive delivery and entry into service between April 2029 and June 2030.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers notes that the continued rapid growth of global installed wind power capacity in recent years has driven a significant rise in demand for the maritime transport of wind power equipment. Concurrently, the steady expansion of China’s exports of advanced manufactured products has further boosted the demand for specialized vessel capacity. To capitalize on the opportunities arising from this structural growth in capacity demand—driven by global wind power transport and Chinese advanced manufacturing exports—the company is proactively advancing a shipbuilding program for a series of specialized multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers emphasizes that this transaction will help the company further optimize its fleet structure, expand its business scale in relevant market segments, enhance its specialized service capabilities and brand recognition, consolidate and strengthen its competitive position within the industry, and improve overall profitability and shareholder returns, all of which align with the company’s medium- to long-term strategic development direction.
Reportedly, this proposed project marks the second time recently that COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers has placed an order with CSSC Chengxi for multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels.
On December 31, 2025, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers, through its subsidiary COSCOL HK Investment & Development, invested RMB 1.492 billion to build four 40,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels at CSSC Chengxi Shipyard. The cost per vessel is RMB 373 million, and they are scheduled for staggered delivery by the end of February 2029.
CSSC Chengxi Shipyard is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China CSSC Holdings Limited. It operates three major production bases—Chengxi Headquarters, Chengxi Equipment, and Chengxi Yangzhou—with the capacity to repair and retrofit 200 vessels (up to 200,000 dwt) annually, build 17 vessels (up to Kamsarmax size) per year, and produce 200,000 tons of steel structures and 500 sets of wind power towers annually.
The main production area of CSSC Chengxi Shipyard covers 770,000 square meters and features a 1,557-meter quay-style outfitting wharf. Its facilities include three floating docks (with capacities of 80,000, 100,000, and 170,000 DWT respectively), an 80,000-DWT-class slipway, an inner harbor basin wharf, and seven deep-water berths capable of accommodating vessels of 10,000 DWT and above.
Notably, on the same day COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers announced an order for eight multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, CSSC Chengxi Shipyard officially delivered the “WONTANARA”—the world’s first independently developed 41,800 DWT self-unloading vessel capable of bidirectional navigation.
This vessel set three world records: it is the largest shallow-water transfer self-unloader by deadweight tonnage, the fastest specialized self-unloader in terms of discharge speed, and the world’s first self-unloading transfer vessel in its tonnage class to feature bidirectional navigation capabilities.