R&D Brand Leading Equipment to Build Shipbuilding Power

Although China’s shipbuilding completion volume has surpassed Korea’s ranking number one in the world, China’s shipbuilding industry’s overall localization rate of ship equipment is still very low. On the export ship, domestic independent brand ship equipment is even more invisible.

China imports nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars worth of marine equipment products every year. In addition to ship power equipment, the second-most imported currency is communication and navigation equipment. As early as many years ago, some domestic shipbuilding companies had realized the importance of communication and navigation equipment in the future shipbuilding industry, and began quietly laying out and investing funds in the development of core technology and equipment. This effort seems to have seen the gains.

In the extremely difficult reality of the global ship market, the Chinese shipbuilding industry is quietly brewing some changes: in the ship communication and navigation equipment market, in the core area of ​​the ship that is basically monopolized by foreign brands, new products from Chinese shipping companies and The continuous emergence of corporate faces has brought vitality and hope to the Chinese shipbuilding industry, and it has also become a new bright spot for the difficult shipping market.

Black box into domestic enterprises "breakthrough"

The shipborne voyage data recorder (VDR), also known as the "ship black box," whose main function is to record and preserve in real time the physical state of the ship's position change, command and control of the ship, etc. in a safe and recoverable manner Data information is used to safeguard navigation safety and analyze the causes of navigational accidents.

In 2000, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Convention stipulated that VDRs must be installed on ships sailing more than 3,000 tons globally. The formulation of this convention seems to have enabled Chinese shipping companies to find a breakthrough in entering the ship guidance market. In the shipbuilding market, the shipboard guide equipment has always been dominated by European, American and Japanese companies. The South Korean shipbuilding industry, which is known as the world’s No.1, has not developed its own brand ship shipguiding equipment products so far. Chinese companies are no exception. But the appearance of VDR seems to have changed all this. As VDR's own technical requirements are relatively low, research and development cycle and investment are less, and costs have advantages, plus more and more new ships are built in Chinese shipyards, thus providing Chinese ship equipment manufacturers with a good market access. opportunity.

The VDR market was preceded by Japan Wireless, Furun Electric, and AVECS AG in Germany, which are the world's leading manufacturers of marine communication navigation system equipment. Nowadays, many domestic companies, including Highlander, Qingdao Headway, Dalian Jinda, Tianjin Sileton and Haihua Electronics, can provide products whose product quality meets the requirements of foreign shipowners. Among them, In addition to independent research and development of VDR products that meet international standards, Hyland also extends the functionality of VDR through the Vessel Managed System (VMS) according to the needs of shipowners. This not only enables real-time data acquisition. It can also realize the mutual transmission of information between ship and bank, which is a representative of technological innovation and innovation.

The core products break the monopoly of foreign ship navigation and navigation equipment, GMDSS, GPS, AIS, steering gear, compass, radar, log, depth sounder, etc. These are the traditional core products of ship guidance, although there were many Chinese companies can provide these products, but they are basically medium and low-end products that have relatively low requirements for domestic navigation. The middle-to-high end shipping market for global shipping has always been monopolized by European, American and Japanese companies, and no Chinese products can be found at all. shadow. However, in this seemingly unlikely market, the shadow of Chinese companies has gradually appeared, such as Haihua, Shanghai Aiwei, AIS of Jiangsu Xinyangsheng; Hailanxin and T&T's GMDSS; Nanjing Ninglu The company's depth sounder and log meter; Shanghai Aircraft Instrument Factory and Highlander's steering gear and compass system; Shanghai Zhisen, Guangning, Hailanxin's radar products, etc. are gradually emerging in the market, and gradually catch up with Europe and the United States. And Japanese brands.

In the market of new normative products such as electronic chart and BNWAS, domestic shipbuilding companies are not to be outdone. According to the mandatory regulations for the implementation of the electronic charting plans officially promulgated by the IMO, including the new passenger ships of 500 tons and over after July 1, 2012, and the new cargo ships of 10,000 tons and over after July 1, 2013, and the existing operating vessels in 2016. Before July 1, an electronic chart display and information system should be provided. After the above-mentioned implementation countdown, the maritime agencies and shipping companies of various countries have put the application of electronic marine chart and information systems on the agenda and launched a wave of “transition and upgrading” from paper charts to electronic charts. .

The Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) serves as the foundation of IBS and the symbol of the era of electronic navigation. At present, many companies at home and abroad have involved, and Dalian Haida University, HIT University, etc., have taken the lead in introducing ECDIS, and Hailanxin Corporation’s electronic charting system. It also passed the CCS certification of China Classification Society and began to be used in some ocean-going ships and crew training institutions. Currently, it is undergoing German GL certification. A large number of domestic companies, including Qingdao Haidewei and Haihua Electronics, have already been developing ECDIS. In the near future, ships equipped with electronic charts developed by Chinese companies will increasingly sail around the world. On the ocean.

R&D of high-end equipment is extremely urgent. Communication navigation is the most important function for ensuring the safe navigation of ships. As a ship navigation device for transmitting messages, it will increasingly show its importance in the future “e-shipping” era, and it is particularly important for warships and official ships. On ships, the use and maintenance of ship navigation equipment, as well as national security, have deeper requirements. Therefore, the ability to develop high-quality domestic ship guidance equipment has become an extremely urgent issue.

Unlike other marine equipment products, ship navigation equipment often has small products, high technical content and brand awareness, high R&D costs, and low labor costs. This is why European and American companies have always been reluctant to communicate A very important reason for the manufacture of guide equipment in China. It is precisely for this reason that it makes it difficult for Chinese companies to have a deep understanding of the technical content of foreign products. Therefore, there is still a big gap between China’s leading shipbuilding companies and foreign excellent companies.

While trying to catch up with their own strengths, Chinese enterprises also hope to receive the government's great attention and strong support from users, and only when more and more Chinese-built ships have Chinese brands of navigation equipment and various types of marine equipment. China’s shipbuilding power can become a real shipbuilding power.