Construction of the Kaohsiung shipyard of the China Ship Building Corporation was completed on June 1, 1976, six months ahead of schedule. Among the Ten Major Construction Projects, this is the first to be finished. Premier Chiang Ching-kuo sent a letter of commendation to all the employers of CSBC, saying that their performance was a brilliant record in the history of construction projects and an important achievement in the nation's material and spiritual construction, to assure final victory.
The shipyard construction began officially in January of 1974. It includes the Dry Dock, the Hull Construction Works, the Outfitting Works and 350- ton Goliath cranes. The Hull Construction Works is 750 meters long and 210 meters wide. With an area of 110,020 square meters, it ranks one of the world's largest hull building operations. It has five production lines to fabricate steel into blocks, and then gradually assemble them. Automation systems and computerized equipment are fully adopted in such work as steel surface treatment, electronic photo marking, cutting and welding. Almost all types of cranes and other new equipment are used in this large works.
The Outfitting Works will do as much building as possible to reduce the operation time in the dry dock. The Outfitting Works includes Pipe Shop, Pre-fitting Shop, Machinery Unit Shop, On-Board Fitting Shop, Accommodation Shop and Electrical Shop. They must coordinate constantly with the Painting Shop and the Shot Blasting Shop to get the best efficiency in shipbuilding. Meanwhile, CSBC began its ship repair operations on June 24, 1976.
The dry dock in the CSBC Kaohsiung shipyard is 950 meters long, and 92 meters wide, with an average depth of 14 meters and the capacity of one million tons. The dry dock is separated into three stages by two intermediate gates. Each stage can be operated independently to facilitate fabrication of ship sections. There are two Goliath cranes with the capacity of 350 tons each. When the beam erections were made in April and August of 1975, more than 1,000 guests were invited. Other sets of cranes installed in shops include 3 Level Luffing, 50 Overhead and 21 Semi-portable.
Though the shipyard construction was completed only recently, China Ship Building Corporation had started building a new 445,000 DWT Ultra Large Crude Oil Carrier on August 20, 1975. The keel-laying ceremony was held November 18. At present this ship is 20% complete. It is due to be delivered, as scheduled, in October of 1977. This oil super-tanker is 378.4 meters long, 25 meters high and 68 meters wide, requiring 60,386 tons of steel. According to the CSBC plans, the shipyard will be capable of building 1.5 million tons of ships and of repairing 2.5 million tons annually. It will open a new era for the shipbuilding industry in the Republic of China.
Shipbuilding combines various industries. It can promote the development of such related fields as the precision, steel, machinery and electric industries. The Kaohsiung shipyard of CSBC is located appropriately in the Water Front Industrial Zone. It faces Kaohsiung's Second Harbor and is flanked by the China Steel Corporation and the Kaohsiung Machinery Works of Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation. The total area of the shipyard is 93 hectares (about 235 acres) which includes 150,000 square meters of the floor space of works and shops. Technical and supervisory personnel are carefully selected. With its excellent surroundings, new facilities and sound management, the prospect for CSBC's future is considered quite optimistic.
The sugar cane field and swamp which became the site of the shipyard
Bird's eye view of China Ship Building Corporation
Profile of the hull construction works
One of the production lines
Magnetic crane at the pier
A bulk carrier in dry dock for repair
1,000,000 DWT dry dock and two sets of 350 TGoliath cranes
Sea Water being pumped into the dry dock
The 445,000 DWT tanker (ULCC) under construction
Board Chairman S.T. Wang speaking at the completion-ceremony
Keel laying of 445,000 DWT tanker (ULCC)
The assembly being erected with blocks
The profile of 445,000 DWT tanker (ULCC)
Overseas Chinese visit the shipyard
