On November 11, a coordination meeting for the commencement of the semi-submersible emergency response and salvage vessel project was held at the China Merchants Shipping Industry Haimen Base. Representatives and key project personnel from the Shanghai Salvage Bureau, the China Merchants Shipping Industry Haimen Base, the Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC), and the China Classification Society (CCS) attended the meeting. The discussion focused on coordinating and planning for the start of construction, including design progress, inspection requirements, and the resolution of major technical and procedural challenges.
During the design and construction briefing, MARIC provided an overview of the vessel type and its core technical specifications, while also reporting on the status of drawing submissions and reviews, design progress, and the schedule for future documentation. The project team from the China Merchants Shipping Industry Haimen Base presented the overall construction plan and the progress of preparations for the start of construction. Subsequently, the parties engaged in discussions regarding key technical and procedural challenges, including thruster installation, hull block integration, vessel undocking, crane load testing, and inclining experiments.
The meeting noted that the project adheres to high technical standards. All participating entities must firmly uphold the bottom line for quality and safety, focus closely on key milestones, and accelerate the implementation of the resolutions reached at this meeting. Furthermore, they should continue to strengthen the four-party coordination mechanism, promptly resolve bottlenecks and challenges, and dedicate their best efforts to developing high-quality rescue and salvage equipment, ensuring the project commences on schedule.
According to previous reports, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau and China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. officially signed a construction contract on November 4 for a deep-sea semi-submersible emergency rescue and salvage vessel. The winning bid for the project was approximately 3.98 billion yuan.
The vessel has an overall length of approximately 175 meters, a beam of 88 meters, and a deepth of 45 meters, with an operational draft of 24–26 meters. It utilizes an eco-friendly dual-fuel propulsion system (diesel and LNG), features a design speed of at least 8 knots, offers an operational range of up to 10,000 nautical miles, and has an endurance of 60 days, with a capacity for 480 personnel. It is equipped with a top-tier DP-3 (dynamic positioning) system and a 12-point mooring system, ensuring precise operations even in harsh sea conditions.
This vessel ranks among the world’s leaders in lifting capacity; equipped with two fully revolving cranes, it boasts a combined lifting capacity of 10,000 tons, enabling it to handle complex operations such as the salvage of large sunken vessels and the installation of massive offshore structures.
The construction of a semi-submersible emergency rescue and salvage vessel is expected to help address critical gaps in major maritime salvage equipment, refine the national maritime emergency support system, and enhance my country’s capabilities for emergency salvage and underwater operations in deep and distant seas. Once completed, this vessel will significantly bolster the capacity to carry out emergency rescue and salvage operations for distressed facilities and vessels in deep-sea environments, thereby contributing to the development of China as a strong maritime nation—a project of great significance.