Qingdao Beihai shipyard
Qingdao Beihai charges less than Korean shipyards to build cargo ships. The price in China is $100 million for a 200,000-tonne ship; Korean companies charge same for a 175,000-tonne one
Power producers Tata Power and Reliance Power have both turned to China’s state-run Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding for dry bulk cargo ships, attracted by the lower prices offered by the firm as compared to its South Korean competitors.
Tata Power recently signed a $200 million contract with Qingdao Beihai for constructing two so-called cape-size ships, each capable of carrying 200,000 tonnes of cargo.
The ships were ordered by TPC Energy Asia, a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Singapore by Tata Power for owning ships and to trade in fuels.
The two ships would be ready by 2011 to carry coal for Tata Power’s 4,000MW power plant at Mundra in Gujarat, which starts operations in early 2012.
At the same time Reliance Power executives are in China discussing a possible contract with Qingdao Beihai for six capesize ships. These ships would be used to haul 17 million tonnes of coal a year for the company’s 4,000MW power plant at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Qingdao Beihai, a shipyard functioning under state-run China Shipbuilding Industry is located at Haixiwan in the Qingdao economic and technical development zone on China’seastern coast.
Much more on this development HERE.
Source: Live Mint, part of the Wall Street Journal