VESSEL REVIEW | Yuzhou Shijia – Fully manoeuvrable, heavy transport vessel for China’s Hainan Yuzhou

Chinese shipowner Hainan Yuzhou International Shipping has taken delivery of a new heavy transport vessel built by Jiangsu Jiuzhou Shipbuilding.

Yuzhou Shijia (钰洲世佳) was designed to undertake transport of large cargo in support of offshore engineering and general marine construction projects. The vessel therefore boasts a large, unobstructed aft deck.

Yuzhou Shijia has an LOA of 160 metres (524.9 feet), a beam of 42 metres (137.8 feet), a design draught of 6.35 metres (20.8 feet), a depth of 9.58 metres (31.4 feet), a design displacement of 31,187 tonnes (30,694 tons), and a DP2 system. The propulsion system includes two 3MW podded azimuthing thrusters fitted at the stern and can deliver a design speed of 12.5 knots. The thrusters were provided by the China Shipbuilding Group subsidiary 712 Research Institute, which also supplied the vessel’s power distribution system, transformer, variable frequency drive systems, control system, and power management system.

For enhanced lateral manoeuvrability even when carrying heavy loads, the vessel relies on the azimuthing thrusters at the stern and two tunnel thrusters at the bow. All five thrusters are electrically-driven to comply with IMO Tier III emission requirements and can ensure accurate positioning and manoeuvring even in close quarters.

Design work on Yuzhou Shijia was undertaken by Shanghai Runji Ship Design in compliance to China Classification Society rules covering unlimited navigation. The vessel had already deployed on its first project, transporting components to be used for the construction of a floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.