PRS establishes a representative office in Shanghai
as Polish owners contract newbuildings in China
More than 20 newbuildings recently ordered in China
are to be classed by the Polish Register of Shipping/Polski Rejestr
Statków (PRS). Responding to this development, PRS has opened a
representative office in Shanghai and is establishing site offices manned by
Polish surveyors in the shipyards where the vessels are being built.
PRS is also developing its relationship with the China
Classification Society (CCS), having earlier this year signed a cooperation
agreement in China for implementing a Chinese-Polish Joint Stock Shipping
Company (Chipolbrok) newbuilding project and hosting a CCS delegation in
Gdansk.
Chipolbrok's order with the Cosco Dalian Shipyard for
six multi-purpose/heavylift vessels is a key factor in the cooperation between
PRS and CCS. Reflecting the fact that Chipolbrok is owned 50:50 by the China
Ministry of Communications and Poland's Ministry of Economics, three of these
vessels are being built to PRS class while the other three will be built to CCS
class. They are due for delivery between 2009 and 2010.
Other work for PRS is coming from the Szczecin-based
Polish Steamship Company (Polsteam), which has ordered 18 bulk carriers in
China. Four 80,000dwt Panamax vessels contracted with New Times Shipbuilding Co
in Jing Jiang for delivery in 2010-2011 will be classed by PRS together with
Lloyd's Register, as will eight 37,000dwt handy-size bulkers ordered from
Xingang Tianjin Shipyard for delivery in 2008-2010. Six 30,000dwt bulk
carriers, termed Lakers as they are designed for operation on the Great Lakes,
are also being built for Polsteam in China to PRS and Det Norske Veritas class
- four by Yangzhou Guoyu Shipyard for delivery in 2008-2009 and two by Nantong
Mingde Shipyard for delivery in 2009.
According to Darek Rudzinski, PRS Commercial Director,
this revival in newbuilding classification work for Polish owners has also
stimulated interest from owners based in other countries:
"We are able to use these opportunities to
demonstrate what we can do, using Polish surveyors and Polish management, both
in China and in our head office. For some owners, especially in Europe, this
can be especially important.
"The Chipolbrok contract is especially
challenging as the three ships are quite sophisticated. They have extremely
large hatch openings, closed by hatchcovers designed to support heavy lift
cargo carried on deck. Each vessel is equipped with four large cranes, two of
which each have a capacity to lift 320 tonnes or a combined 640
tonnes."
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