The 2023 World Marine Equipment Conference Came to an End-
Pursuing Dream and Promoting Exchange
The tide of the Minjiang River attracts thousands of guests. From October 12 to 15, the 2023 World Marine Equipment Conference, jointly sponsored by Fujian Provincial Government, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Transport, was held in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Experts, scholars, business leaders and industry representatives from all over the world gathered in Fuzhou to showcase the advanced technologies and achievements in the world’s marine equipment field and conduct in-depth exchanges on topics such as technological innovation, equipment manufacturing, industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges.
Cutting-edge technology promotes technological innovation
In the 2023 World Marine Equipment Conference’s decade achievement exhibition, models such as “Adora Magic City” large cruise ship and “Changheng” series LNG ship highlight China’s great achievements in the field of high-end ships and marine engineering equipment; A number of equipment products, such as the large cutter suction dredger “Sky Whale” and “Sea Swallow” water glider, show the innovative ability and research and development strength of China universities in the field of marine equipment; The new marine engineering equipment represented by the semi-submersible large-scale intelligent deep-sea aquaculture equipment “Ocean Fishing Ground No.1” and the deep-water semi-submersible oil production and storage platform “Deep Sea No.1” presents the technological innovation and system innovation in the fields of deep-sea aquaculture, marine new energy and marine tourism in China.
“Can plastics also be used for shipbuilding?” Many visitors stopped in front of booth of Ningde Future Ship. The polyethylene boat independently developed by the company replaced traditional raw materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastic and oak, which was not only durable, but also further improved the performance.
As a concurrent activity of the conference, China Marine Equipment Expo hosted by China Shipbuilding Group set up exhibition areas such as Digital Intelligence Technology Equipment Exhibition Area, Offshore Equipment Exhibition Area, Marine Fishery Equipment Exhibition Area, Shipping Logistics and Equipment Exhibition Area, which attracted 45 enterprises from 14 countries and regions to participate in the exhibition, covering the whole industrial chain of upstream R&D and design, midstream manufacturing and production, downstream application and service of marine equipment.
According to statistics, the China Marine Equipment Expo has signed deals worth RMB 43.6 billion, and the intended transaction amount is RMB 18 billion, involving port-based projects, offshore pastures, green energy, marine fishery equipment and so on. At the same time, the Fujian Provincial Conference on Cooperation, Innovation and Development of Marine Economy and Industry was held, with a total investment of over RMB 200 billion, covering emerging marine industries such as marine equipment, marine information, new marine materials and marine biomedicine.
Green development leads the trend with intelligence
Fu’an, Fujian, a traditional shipbuilding base in China, was once famous for its “taking-part, remolding and building” technology in the shipbuilding industry. Zheng Zhengui, who grew up in an abandoned cabin and has been dismantling and building ships with his parents for more than 30 years, now comes to the conference with Taihe Shipbuilding Company.
“Look! This is our new product ‘catamaran’, which is mainly used for tourism and leisure. The hull is light, wind energy and solar energy can provide power, and it can also be equipped with new energy battery packs, which has a wide application prospect in offshore tourism.” Zheng said that the new energy catamaran started construction at the beginning of this year has injected new vitality into Taihe Company. “Many merchants have asked for our product information, and several intentional orders have been reached!”
Zheng’s words reflected the transformation and upgrading of Fujian shipbuilding industry-initially forming the whole industrial chain of electric ships covering R&D and design, final assembly and construction, development of “Three Electricity” system (battery, motor, electronic control), supporting operation and ship application.
At present, Fujian has landed 53 electric ship demonstration projects of 11 types, covering application scenarios such as rivers, lakes and seas.
At the supply chain ecological conference of marine equipment industry chain, it has become the consensus of the suppliers of the ship industry chain present to adhere to green development, strengthen the drive of technological innovation and digital empowerment. “Green shipping is one of the important ways to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality in China, and the development of electric ships is an important starting point to promote shipping emission reduction.” Yuan Chengqing, deputy dean of the School of Transportation and Logistics Engineering of Wuhan University of Technology, said at the special forum on the development of green intelligence for inland ships.
Taking the sea as the medium to boost civilized exchanges
As one of the sub-forums of the 2023 World Marine Equipment Conference, the World Forum on Exchange of Marine Civilization was held in China Shipbuilding Culture City, Mawei, Fuzhou. More than 200 marine culture researchers from all over the world use the sea as a medium to seek consensus, exchange and learn from and interact with each other.
In the keynote session, from the perspective of the combination of the development course of marine equipment and the development track of marine civilization, the participants focused on the typical cases of the exchange and mutual learning of world marine civilization related to Fujian, such as the history of marine trade between Fujian merchants in Nanyang, and discussed the research results and thoughts on marine civilization.
“There is an ancient sailboat named ‘Cutty Sark’ on the Thames in London, England. It visited Fuzhou in 1871. The cargo on board was Wuyishan tea transported by Minjiang Port, and the tea directly participated in the exchanges between eastern and western civilizations.” At the forum, Louise Macfarlane, curator of the Cutty Sark Pavilion at the Royal Greenwich Museum in the United Kingdom, reviewed such a history and aroused the resonance of the guests.