China's achievements in maritime design were celebrated in
Beijing yesterday with the announcement of its top 10 ships .
The vessels, all designed and built on the Chinese mainland,
represent the achievements the nation's ship building industry has
made over the years. They are the milestones in the history of the
industry's development according to the event sponsor--the
Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National
Defence.
Chosen from more than 100 candidates the top 10 include five
civilian vessels and five military ships.
Among the five civilian vessels there's the 'Dongfeng', the
first 10,000-ton ocean-going ship, designed and built independently
by China in the 1960s and the 'Delvar' which was China's first
300,000-ton VLCC (Very Large Crude Oil Carrier) and built for
Iran.
The other three civilian vessels were the 'Xiangyanghong 10',
China's first multi-functional large ocean research vessel; the
'Changcheng', the country's first exported vessel built according
to international standards and the 'Bohai Youyi' the first oil
processing and storage ship.
The five military vessels included China's first generation
nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the first generation missile
destroyer, the new conventional nuclear submarine, the new missile
destroyer and 'Yuanwang 3' a spacecraft tracking, telemetering and
control ship that makes China just the fourth country in the world
that has this technology.
"This is the first time a large-scale poll has been undertaken
on ships in China," said Huang Pingtao, chairman of the board of
directors with the China Society of Naval Architects and Maritime
Engineers.
The election for the top 10 ships comes at a time when the ship
building industry in China is strong. Official statistics showed
that China's share in the global ship building market has grown
from 5.4 percent in 1994 to 17 percent last year.
(China Daily March 24, 2006)