On 31 March 2026, China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group (CRBG) officially took delivery of CRBG Pile No. 1 in Nantong, Jiangsu. The vessel was presented as the world’s largest pile-driving ship and marks a notable advance in China’s marine engineering equipment sector.
According to the source, CRBG Pile No. 1 is the first specialized engineering vessel in China fitted with both a dynamic positioning system and an anchorage control system. The configuration enables centimeter-level positioning accuracy during pile-driving work. The vessel also represents the first large-scale use of a domestically developed dynamic positioning technology on ultra-large offshore engineering equipment.
The core system on board is the DYPOS DP5000, developed by DYPOS Marine Engineering. The company said the system is the only domestically developed dynamic positioning control system officially authorized by Navis JSC. After technology transfer and further development in China, the system received CCS type approval in December 2024.
The source highlights three main strengths of the system. First, it meets international safety and compliance requirements through CCS type approval, SL0-level ship cybersecurity certification, and compliance with IACS UR E27 standards for network resilience. Second, its modular structure allows the system to be configured for different vessel types, including engineering support vessels, dredgers, pile-driving vessels, and cable-laying vessels. Third, localized technical support, simulators, and training facilities are intended to lower operating and maintenance costs compared with imported systems.
For CRBG Pile No. 1, the DP5000 was combined with winch-controlled anchoring in an integrated DP+Winch Control solution. Using DGNSS, wind sensors, attitude sensors, and compasses, the system monitors environmental and vessel data in real time. After onboard processing, it adjusts main thrusters and bow thrusters to maintain accurate positioning and hull stability in complex sea conditions, while also supporting automatic mooring through winch control.
The delivery also marked a first reference project for the DYPOS DP5000 on an ultra-large specialized engineering vessel. The source states that the system has already been deployed on multiple vessel types in domestic and overseas markets, moving from research and development into industrialized, large-scale engineering applications.
DYPOS Marine Engineering said its business structure combines manufacturing with lifecycle technical service, covering research, production, deployment, operation, and maintenance. The company said this model supports integrated delivery and faster technical response across projects.
