Shipbuilding and Repair Capabilities Expand in Rongcheng, Weihai, Shandong, China!
According to market reports, on September 3, the opening ceremony for Weihai Maple Leaf Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. and the delivery ceremony for the 13,000 DWT duplex stainless steel chemical tanker “Maple Leaf Weihai” were held at Longyan Port in Rongcheng, Weihai, Shandong.
According to records, Weihai Maple Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. was established in August 2024 with a registered capital of $18.95 million. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maple Shipping Group, a long-established private shipping enterprise in China. The ship repair and construction base began operations in June 2025 and currently features four dry docks with capacities of 60,000, 80,000, 150,000, and 200,000 tons, as well as a 500-meter-long pier.
It is understood that the corporate history of Weihai Maple Heavy Industry’s parent company, Maple Shipping, dates back to 1956. Originally known as Zhang’an Shipping, it was renamed Maple Shipping Group in 1999 amid the wave of state-owned enterprise shareholding reforms.
Maple Leaf Shipping has now evolved from a single-service deep-sea shipping business to a full industrial chain encompassing “deep-sea transportation, ship repair and construction, and trade management.” Its fleet operates a range of mainstream vessel types, including bulk carriers, chemical tankers, and container ships, with deadweight tonnage ranging from 7,000 to 57,000 DWT.
In 2005, Maple Leaf Shipping officially entered the shipbuilding sector by establishing Taizhou Maple Leaf Shipbuilding, a wholly-owned subsidiary. Taizhou Maple Leaf Shipbuilding primarily builds chemical tankers, container ships, and other vessel types; it is the first company in the Taizhou region to be included on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s whitelist and is one of the region’s leading privately-owned shipbuilders.
In 2024, Maple Leaf Shipping once again expanded its presence in the ship repair and construction market by establishing a new shipbuilding company—Weihai Maple Leaf Heavy Industry—in Rongcheng, Weihai. After two years of construction, Weihai Maple Leaf Heavy Industry officially opened on September 3, 2026, marking the completion of Maple Leaf Shipping’s “Taizhou + Weihai” dual-base layout spanning north and south, and representing a crucial step toward full-chain operations encompassing ocean shipping, ship repair and construction, ship management, and commodity trading. On the day of the opening, Weihai Maple Leaf Heavy Industry successfully delivered its first 13,000 DWT duplex stainless steel chemical tanker.
In accordance with Maple Leaf Shipping’s development plan, Weihai Maple Leaf Heavy Industry will focus on the manufacturing of high-end, smart, and green marine equipment in the future, steadily advancing toward the goal of becoming a national-level demonstration base for green and smart ship repair and construction, and helping Weihai establish itself as a new hub for the nation’s high-end shipbuilding and offshore engineering equipment industry.