Chinese shipbuilding industry

One thing worth to note is the recently launched dredger "天鲲号"
Power (E) of the drill is 6.6MW
Power (E) of Pump is 17MW
Total power (in the form of chemical in the fuel? or shaft power of the primo (GT)?) is 25.8MW
Full electrical drive.

How many electrical motors are used to drive that drill?. If it is only one, that means a 6.6MW electrical motor, or two of 3.3MW each? Note, 712 has made electrical motor of 10MW class (10 to 20MW) in 2015. So it is likely one motor.

To me, this dredger is (another) trail of IEPS for IEPS version of 055 and carrier (just double the number of shafts). I say another because I still suspect the 10000 tone cutters being the trail ship.

The good of this dredger being the trail ship is that the motor is drilling anything from mud to granite than water. It put the whole IEPS (including the motor) to extreme application, more harsher than propeller for a war ship regardless sea state.

Henri K take on this gigantic dredger. He speculate it will put on to work in Scarborough shoal interesting. China ban the sale of this dredger after Vietnam attempt to buy from European sources
Machine to manufacture islands? China launches biggest suction dredger in Asia
After six years of development and construction, the dismantling disk dredger Tian Kun (天 鲲 号) was launched last Friday at Qidong Shipyard Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Group (ZPMC).


A disintegrating disc drag

Here is the animation how this dredger supposed to work interesting (My addition)

Here is another good intro on this kind of dredger

With a full load displacement of 17,000 tonnes and an installed capacity of 25,843 kW, Tian Kunhas just dethroned another Chinese suction dredge Tian Jing (天 鲸 号), former number one in Asia and number three in the world, which has already been used in the construction of some Chinese artificial islands in the South China Sea.

The 140-meter-long, 27.8-meter-long boat is equipped with five different types of cutters with a maximum power of 6,600 kW. The latter makes it possible to grind and disintegrate all materials, including rocks with a compressive strength less than or equal to 50 MPa, up to 35 meters from the seabed.

Crushed materials mixed with seawater will then be pumped and discharged over a distance of up to 15 km from the vessel, with the world's most powerful 17,000 kW pump power. The sampling capacity is 6,000 m³ / h, which is a volume of more than two Olympic swimming pools.

Equipped with highly computerized control and stabilization systems, Tian Kun is able to perform automatic dredging and unmanned control. To improve the comfort of the crew, especially in the face of the low frequency vibration during operation of disintegrating disks, the superstructure of the ship is placed entirely on a flexible damping device.


If the Tian Kun dredge is officially presented by its owner CCCC Tianjin Dredging Co., Ltd. as a tool to fight the silting and silting of ports, its design, the 708 Institute of Naval Group CSSC, by contrast, did not hesitate to nickname their creation .

Although most of the embankment work on the Chinese islets at Spratleys is now complete, but the Scarborough Reef, located in the East of the South China Sea, will require a volume of work far exceeding those already known to date. now according to first estimates (see our file " "). It will not be surprising to see that the Tian Kun drag is "requisitioned" to participate in this new pharaonic project.




At least five disintegrating disk dredges have been mobilized in the construction of the Fiery Cross Reef.

It should be noted that the most powerful cutter dredge in the world is ... French. It is called D'Artagnan and belongs to the International Dredging Company (SDI), a subsidiary of the DEME Group and based in Lambersart in France.

Since May 26, 2017, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and Customs have jointly issued with a capacity greater than 1,500 m³ or an installed power of more than 2,000 kW, to "safeguard national security ".

This restriction comes after Vietnam's attempt to procure it from the West, but which eventually returned to Chinese manufacturers because of "exorbitant price" of European manufacturers.

Henri K.

I guess everything is GPS guided

asif iqbal said:

I guess everything is GPS guided

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Not in the west Pacific to east Indian Ocean since 2012. BDS has been in use for years, both military and civilian. Most high-end smart phones since 2013 can receive BDS signals. You can try it in Pakistan.

This is good for use in ecologically fragile river-ways and lakes (note the flat bottom indicates this isn't an ocean-going ship).

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The world's first 2,000-metric-ton electric boat was launched Sunday in the southern city of Guangzhou.

With a battery capacity of 2,400 kilowatt-hours, the self-unloading ship built by Guangzhou Shipyard International has zero exhaust emissions.

The ship is powered by lithium battery and super capacitor, and can last up to 80 kilometers after a two-hour recharge.

The steel cargo ship will be used to carry coal and it will navigate on the Pearl River and other bodies of water.

Isn't it big ironic that battery powered zero emission boat will transport coal for burning ??

asif iqbal said:

Isn't it big ironic that battery powered zero emission boat will transport coal for burning ??

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Might as well stock up on good karma while doing the dirty deed.

by78 said:

This is good for use in ecologically fragile river-ways and lakes (note the flat bottom indicates this isn't an ocean-going ship).

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The world's first 2,000-metric-ton electric boat was launched Sunday in the southern city of Guangzhou.

With a battery capacity of 2,400 kilowatt-hours, the self-unloading ship built by Guangzhou Shipyard International has zero exhaust emissions.

The ship is powered by lithium battery and super capacitor, and can last up to 80 kilometers after a two-hour recharge.

The steel cargo ship will be used to carry coal and it will navigate on the Pearl River and other bodies of water.

Click to expand...

Didn't diesel electric subs beat this boat to the title of the first 2000 ton battery powered electric vessel by like 100 years?

Richard Santos said:

Didn't diesel electric subs beat this boat to the title of the first 2000 ton battery powered electric vessel by like 100 years?

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You answered your own question here: "Didn't diesel electric subs...".

by78 said:

This is good for use in ecologically fragile river-ways and lakes (note the flat bottom indicates this isn't an ocean-going ship).

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The world's first 2,000-metric-ton electric boat was launched Sunday in the southern city of Guangzhou.

With a battery capacity of 2,400 kilowatt-hours, the self-unloading ship built by Guangzhou Shipyard International has zero exhaust emissions.

The ship is powered by lithium battery and super capacitor, and can last up to 80 kilometers after a two-hour recharge.

The steel cargo ship will be used to carry coal and it will navigate on the Pearl River and other bodies of water.

Click to expand...

There's a saying, whatever floats your boat. In this case literally.