Jiangsu Fanzhou Shipping has taken delivery of Fanzhou 7, a new self-propelled heavy lift vessel built by Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering for international deck cargo trades.
Built to China Classification Society standards, Fanzhou 7 has already entered service and completed overseas voyages. The vessel is designed for long-distance routes, with an unrefuelled range of 16,000 nautical miles.
The ship has an overall length of 256 m, a beam of 51 m, and a depth of 13 m. It has a deadweight of 55,000 t, gross tonnage of 46,158, and a cargo deck area of 11,700 sq m. These specifications led Chinese press reports to describe it as the world’s largest foreign-trade deck barge.
Its deck extends across nearly the full length of the vessel and has a rated capacity of 25 t per sq m. The layout is intended for large and irregular cargoes such as wind turbine components, offshore platform modules, and steel hull sections.
The propulsion arrangement includes two MAN 6S46ME main engines, two side thrusters, and two Fenxi Siemens 1FC6 562-8SA82 generators rated at 740 kW each. The vessel has a maximum speed of 15 knots. The propulsion system includes redundancy to provide an added margin of safety during long transits, particularly offshore.
One of the vessel’s voyages involved departing Nantong with 132 offshore wind turbine blades bound for India.
