蔡梓涵
中遠海運特運公司董事長丁農(nóng):在“一帶一路”倡議下,公司建設多點開花,北極“冰上絲綢之路”實現(xiàn)常態(tài)化運營,綠色能源LNG罐箱搭乘海運專列駛往千家萬戶,“天福”輪勇救遇險女帆船手……這些令人振奮的成績,說明落實社會責任,實現(xiàn)企業(yè)、社會和環(huán)境的動態(tài)平衡,樹立良好的聲譽和形象,是公司可持續(xù)發(fā)展的必由之路。
Ding Nong, Chairman of the Board of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers Co., Ltd. : “Actively responding to the Belt and Road Initiative, our company has achieved success in many aspects of its operation: shipments through the ‘Arctic Silk Road on Ice’ have been ritualized; green energy in LNG tank containers has been shipped to thousands of households by specialized cargo freighters; general cargo ship ‘Tian Fu’ rescued the female sailboat racer (Susie Goodall) in distress... these exciting achievements show that the company’s sustainable development can only be realized by fulfilling its social responsibility, maintaining the dynamic balance among the enterprise, society and environment, and establishing a good corporate reputation and image.”
中遠海運船舶成功穿越北極“冰上絲綢之路”開辟亞歐貿(mào)易新航道。
中遠海運特運首次裝運海上巨無霸風塔。
打破全球半潛船DP(動態(tài)定位)安裝貨物最重等多項紀錄。
特運重吊船開創(chuàng)“安裝+運輸+安裝”服務客戶新模式。
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近年來,中遠海運特運公司堅持“特”字為先,堅持科學發(fā)展、創(chuàng)新發(fā)展,通過不斷深化對行業(yè)規(guī)律、市場規(guī)律和企業(yè)規(guī)律的探索,逐步淘汰低效落后產(chǎn)能,提升高附加值貨物比例,不斷增強船舶承運能力,持續(xù)盤活優(yōu)化內(nèi)部資源,進一步釋放高質(zhì)量發(fā)展活力。從“以特種船為主的雜貨船隊”到“以特種專業(yè)運輸船為主的多用途運輸船隊”,從“成為特種專業(yè)運輸市場的系統(tǒng)集成者”到“成為國際領先的工程物流服務商”,中遠海運特運堅持技術優(yōu)先的高質(zhì)量發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略,在國際海運市場上實現(xiàn)了“跟跑、共跑、領跑”三大跨越。
在1998年以前,西方發(fā)達國家的航運企業(yè)壟斷了市場上超高、超大、超長、超重、超寬的特種貨物運輸。中國從國外進口的大量重型裝備,幾乎都是由國外船公司承運。中國的企業(yè),不僅采購設備花了大價錢,運費也非常昂貴。1998年,中遠海運公司開始進軍特種貨物運輸市場,由于貨運技術底子薄,導致經(jīng)營效益不理想。2002-2003年,公司接入新型半潛船“泰安口”“康盛口”輪。但開始的幾年,這些半潛船裝載工程技術對外方依賴較高,從運輸方案,到現(xiàn)場指導的港口船長、工程技術人員,大多由外方安排。一個方案高達數(shù)十萬美元,港口船長和工程技術人員的費用標準也很高,半潛船盈利能力非常薄弱。
公司意識到,特種貨運技術管理是公司開拓海洋工程和重大件運輸市場的重要瓶頸,在整個運輸服務鏈條中占據(jù)關鍵地位。而且,貨運技術隊伍的規(guī)模與質(zhì)量,日益成為高端客戶選擇承運船舶的重要考量因素。因此,提高公司貨運技術管理水平,壯大公司貨運技術隊伍,關乎公司戰(zhàn)略目標的實現(xiàn)。
為突破重大件運輸瓶頸,實現(xiàn)企業(yè)戰(zhàn)略目標,公司堅持技術領先戰(zhàn)略,在不斷調(diào)整船隊結構的同時,努力提高貨運技術,搶占行業(yè)制高點,走出了一條獨具特色的創(chuàng)新之路。
隨著船隊結構升級提速,2011年6月公司整合貨運技術、港口船長、貨運監(jiān)督三個模塊資源,調(diào)集技術骨干和技術能手,組建成立了亞洲船公司第一個貨運技術中心,負責貨物裝卸方案設計、貨物配載、監(jiān)裝、監(jiān)卸等工作,特別是為海工產(chǎn)品、成套設備和重大件貨物的裝卸和運輸提供專業(yè)技術保障。該團隊選調(diào)了“中遠集團”十杰青年、具有十余年半潛船作業(yè)經(jīng)驗的優(yōu)秀半潛船船長蔡連財作為負責人,并引進了多名船舶海洋工程專業(yè)人才,重點加強了工程技術力量。
貨運技術中心總經(jīng)理蔡連財介紹:“貨運技術中心包含工程技術、港口船長、危品貨監(jiān)等三個板塊,工程技術人員制定運輸方案,港口船長負責現(xiàn)場指揮執(zhí)行,危品貨監(jiān)負責特殊性質(zhì)貨物的技術指導?!必涍\技術中心成立后,首要任務就是做好技術的普及和協(xié)同運用,一方面逐船發(fā)放編印成冊的貨運技術知識;另一方面,在團隊內(nèi)部乃至經(jīng)營、船舶管理等部門之間共享貨運信息,綜合運用貨運技術。例如,工程技術人員制定的裝卸方案,要咨詢港口船長是否具備實操的可行性;港口船長制定了裝卸貨方案,需要技術人員計算風流數(shù)據(jù)和評估船舶硬件能力。通過大家合作設計方案,共享技術知識,互補實踐經(jīng)驗,貨運技術中心團隊的能力得到了快速提升。
貨運技術中心成立后,制訂了各類貨物裝卸和綁扎標準,統(tǒng)一了港口船長工作規(guī)范,推進貨運技術的標準化、制度化、規(guī)范化和可操作化。2014年7月,發(fā)布了《貨運技術匯編》,把常用的技術要點、事故案例、經(jīng)驗技巧等編成冊,為方便快捷完成各種運輸方案打下基礎。針對公司存在的預配環(huán)節(jié)薄弱,沒有合適的配載軟件,配載圖制作落后這一貨運管理短板,貨運技術中心通過向競爭對手學習,引進了Microsoft Visio 軟件,量身定做了30條重吊船的VISIO配載圖。隨著技術標準化和團隊水平提高,對外方技術依賴的局面得到了徹底扭轉(zhuǎn)。
半潛船方面,2014年6月,半潛船“祥瑞口”輪首次成功DP定位安裝超重大石油平臺,創(chuàng)造了全球5萬噸級半潛船側(cè)向滾裝貨物最重、DP定位安裝貨物最重等多項新紀錄。2017年,貨運技術中心獨立設計了“新光華”輪裝載公司首件單件超過3萬噸的圓筒型貨物“希望6號”的技術方案,創(chuàng)造了公司半潛船隊裝運單件貨物重量最重、圓筒型貨物體積最大的雙紀錄。
重吊船方面,重大件的吊裝、系固技術取得長足發(fā)展,比如2014年完成了566噸LPG罐體的運輸加安裝,成功開發(fā)并應用了超高強度鋼材設計建造的24米700噸吊梁等。
全程物流技術突破方面,2011年至2016年,公司陸續(xù)完成了巴基斯坦兩個30萬千瓦級核電站建設所需設備、材料、重大件的全程物流運輸任務,這也是公司第一個全程物流項目,涉及多項高要求重件的海運及1200公里的公路運輸。
酒香客自來,花美氣自芳。隨著貨運技術的提高,服務質(zhì)量的提升,品牌效應為公司開拓海外貨源給予了極大支持。公司營銷中心總經(jīng)理陳鋒介紹:“2013年初,公司開始接觸風電巨頭VESTAS的貨物,而這些貨物的運輸方案必須通過貨主委托的一家技術咨詢公司認可。于是,貨運技術團隊不斷細化運輸方案,部分內(nèi)容從A版一直更新到L版,共12個版本,最終獲得第一次10萬方三船的風電運輸合同。在體驗到公司正規(guī)的運輸方案,專業(yè)的現(xiàn)場監(jiān)裝,良好的服務質(zhì)量后,VESTAS公司對中遠海運特運的信任度大為提升,隨之敞開了合作的大門。憑借優(yōu)秀專業(yè)的表現(xiàn),公司此后又贏得了西門子、GAMESA、金風科技等風電知名廠家的訂單,這幾年公司的風電運輸貨量每年都超過100萬方?!?/p>
八年來,特運貨運技術中心團隊不停追趕世界一流,不斷挑戰(zhàn)技術極限、刷新紀錄,在半潛船、重吊船等領域頻頻創(chuàng)造了經(jīng)典案例,在個別技術上甚至已實現(xiàn)了超越,成為名副其實的領跑者。以重要項目為突破,攻堅克難,不斷創(chuàng)造貨運新紀錄。對近年來的重大項目,蔡連財如數(shù)家珍:2014年8月,首創(chuàng)重吊船單航次承運7臺RTG整機。2016年1月,“大安”輪在阿根廷布宜諾斯艾利斯港安全卸下650噸的拖輪,重吊船吊運首個單件超過600噸重件。在北極最大液化天然氣YAMAL項目中,公司的半潛船不僅承擔了該項目模塊的首航,還承運了項目中最重的模塊,成功挑戰(zhàn)了采用SPMT橫滾6500噸重的模塊。在執(zhí)行YAMAL項目期間,技術中心還協(xié)助公司順利中標全球最大的油氣開發(fā)項目TCO項目的模塊海運服務。與此同時,中遠特運公司以技術創(chuàng)新為抓手,成功開發(fā)研制出中國領先的重型吊梁,有效突破“運輸+安裝”等領域技術瓶頸,成功實現(xiàn)技術保障新突破。
要實現(xiàn)領跑,人才是關鍵。特運貨運技術中心成立以來,貨運技術中心團隊的數(shù)量、質(zhì)量都在不斷提升,從創(chuàng)建之初的16人,到現(xiàn)在的37人,另有12名骨干人才在國內(nèi)外關鍵崗位為公司船隊提供貨運技術支持。與此同時,港口船長的數(shù)量也在不斷增加,并通過與DNV GL等資源較為優(yōu)質(zhì)的公司建立了港口船長外包渠道,不斷補充和儲蓄隊伍力量?!爸灰皇谴坝布木窒蓿偁帉κ帜茏龅?、敢做的,我們都能做到,特別是在海上平臺DP整體安裝方面,我們的成功案例比競爭對手多,市場評價也比競爭對手好?!爸氐醮矫?,我們的團隊正處于向高級階段爬升的上升期,在市場上我們極具競爭力?!辈踢B財對自己的團隊充滿自信。
習近平總書記說:“中國要強盛、要復興,就一定要大力發(fā)展科學技術”“核心技術靠化緣是要不來的,只有自力更生”。從花錢請人做技術方案到完全自主設計方案,從技術受制于人到成為業(yè)界領跑者,回顧中遠海運特運公司的發(fā)展歷程,就是一段艱苦奮斗、自力更生、奮發(fā)圖強的成長史。公司在貨運技術上的不懈努力,正在收獲豐厚回報,并繼續(xù)為企業(yè)戰(zhàn)略發(fā)展,提供源源不斷的強大支撐。
第二屆“一帶一路”國際合作高峰論壇上,習近平主席在講話中強調(diào),面向未來,我們要聚焦重點、深耕細作,共同繪制精謹細膩的“工筆畫”,推動共建“一帶一路”沿著高質(zhì)量發(fā)展方向不斷前進。中遠海運特運高質(zhì)量發(fā)展之路正是一幅用匠心精細繪制的“海上絲綢之路”工筆畫。
Vessels of COSCO SHIPPING successfully sailed through the “Arctic Silk Road on Ice” to open a new route for Asia-Europe trade.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers Company (COSCO SHIPPING Specialized for short) shipped gigantic towers for offshore wind turbines for the first time.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized broke the world record for the heaviest cargo installed by a semisubmersible ship with DP (dynamic positioning) technology, and several other world records as well.
The heavy-lift ships of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized pioneered a new service model of“installation + transportation + installation.”
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In recent years, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized has given top priority to the company’s main feature, specialized carrier service, and adhered to a scientific and innovative approach for its development. Through increasingly deepening its exploration of the rules of the market, industry and corporate management, the company has gradually eliminated inefficient and outdated production capacity, and increased the proportion of high-added-value cargo in its shipments, to continuously enhance its carrying capacity, revitalize and optimize internal resources, and to further release the energy for highquality development. By sticking to this high-quality development strategy that prioritizes advanced technology, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized has successfully taken the three great leaps of “following, catching up and leading”on the international shipping market, and completed the transformation from a “general cargo fleet based on special cargo vessels” to a “multi-purpose fleet based on specialized carriers”, from “being a system integrator in the specialized transport market” to “being a leading international service provider of engineering logistics”.
Before 1998, shipping companies in developed western countries monopolized the transport market for special cargos with extreme height, size, length, weight or width. The large amount of heavy equipment imported by China from abroad was almost carried by foreign shipping companies. The Chinese companies not only had to spend a lot of money on the equipment, but also pay for very high shipping costs. In 1998, the COSCO SHIPPING Specialized began to enter the special cargo transport market. However, due to its weak foundation of freight technology, the operational efficiency turned out to be unsatisfactory. In 2002 and 2003, the company introduced into its fleet the new type of semi-submersible ships “Taiankou” and “Kangshengkou”. However, in the first few years, the profitability of these semi-submersible ships was very weak because they were highly dependent on foreign companies for technical support ranging from making transportation plans to arranging the port captain and engineering technicians. A transportation plan would cost several hundred thousand dollars, and the wage standard of port captains and engineering technicians was also very high.
The company realized that the management of freight technology for special cargo, which plays a critical role in the entire transportation service chain, had become a major bottleneck for the company to exploit the transport market for marine engineering equipment and heavy cargo. Moreover, the company also understood that the scale and quality of the freight technology team had become an increasingly important factor for high-end customers to choose the carrying vessels for their cargo. Therefore, the company decided that improving its freight technology management and expanding its freight technology team was vital for realizing the company’s strategic goals.
In order to break through the bottlenecks in the transportation of heavy cargo and achieve the strategic goals, the company has persisted with the strategy of employing the most advanced technology and blazed a unique path of innovation by striving to enhance its freight technology and seeking industrial leadership while constantly adjusting the structure of its fleet.
With the accelerating structural upgrade of its fleet, in June 2011, the company integrated its resources in the three modules of freight technology, port captain and transportation supervisor, and mobilized its key technical personnel and skilled technicians to establish the first freight technology center of an Asian shipping company. The center is responsible for devising loading and unloading plans, planning load distribution, supervising loading and discharging and so forth, with a strong emphasis on providing professional technical support for loading, discharging and transporting marine engineering products, complete sets of equipment and heavy cargo. The freight technology team is led by Cai Liancai, one of the “top ten youths of outstanding work performance in COSCO Group” and an excellent captain of semi-submersible ship with experience of more than ten years. The company also introduced a multitude of professionals specializing in naval architecture and/or marine engineering as an important effort to strengthen its capacity of engineering technology.
Cai Liancai, the general manager of the company’s freight technology center, said: “The freight technology center includes three modules: engineering technology, port captain and dangerous cargo supervisor. The engineering technology personnel formulate the transportation plan; the port captain is responsible for on-site command and execution; the dangerous cargo supervisor provides technical instructions for handling special cargo. The top priority of the freight technology center right after its operation was to build technological literacy and utilize the technology in coordination. On the one hand, technical manuals of freight technology were distributed to the staff ship by ship; on the other hand, transportation information is shared within the technology team and even among the operational departments and ship management departments, so that the freight technology can be used comprehensively and collaboratively. For example, the engineering technicians who formulate the loading and unloading plans shall consult the port captain about the feasibility of the plans; the port captain who has developed a loading and discharging plan needs to ask the technicians to calculate the data of wind flow, and to evaluate the ship’s hardware capability. We worked together to devise plans, share technical knowledge, and accumulate mutually complementary practical experience, thus improving the entire team’s capabilities quickly.”
After the establishment of the freight technology center, handling and lashing criteria for various types of cargo were formulated, and work specifications of the port captain were unified in order to promote the standardization, institutionalization and operationalization of freight technology. In July 2014, the center released The Collection of Freight Technology, which compiles commonly-used technical key points, accident cases, practical experience and skills into a booklet, laying the foundation for the staff to execute various types of transportation plans conveniently and efficiently. Aiming to overcome the company’s weaknesses in stowage planning and freight management, mainly, the backward stowage planning process and lack of proper stowage planning software, the freight technology center has learned from the competitors and introduced Microsoft VISIO software, enabling its technicians to tailormake VISIO stowage plans for all of the company’s 30 heavy-lift ships. With standardized technology and the rapidly growing competency of the technical team, the company’s previous reliance on foreign technical support has been eliminated completely.
In the field of semi-submersible ships, in June 2014, the semi-submersible ship Xiangruikou successfully installed an extra-heavy large oil platform with DP (dynamic positioning) technology for the first time, setting a number of new world records for the heaviest side-rolling cargo carried by a 50,000-ton semi-submersible ship, the heaviest cargo installed with DP technology, and setting a few new records in other categories. In 2017, the freight technology center independently devised the technical plan for semi-submersible ship“Xinguanghua” to carry “Hope 6”, the company’s first cylindrical cargo weighing more than 30,000 tons, creating double records for the heaviest single piece of cargo and for the largest volume of cylindrical cargo in the history of the company’s semi-submersible fleet.
In terms of heavy-lift ships, great progress has been made in the hoisting and securing technology of heavy cargo. For example, in 2014, the company completed the transportation and installation of the 566-ton LPG tanks, and successfully developed and employed the 24-meter, 700-ton lifting beam built with ultra-high-strength steel.
As regards the breakthroughs in full logistics technology, from 2011 to 2016, the company completed the full logistics and end-to-end transportation of the equipment, materials and heavy cargo needed for the construction of the two 300,000-kilowatt nuclear power plants in Pakistan. That was also the company’s first full logistics project, involving the ocean shipping of multiple items of high-demand heavy cargo and road transport of 1200 kilometers.
“Good wine needs no bush, and beautiful flower lacks no flavor.” With enhanced freight technology and better service, the brand effect of the company has offered tremendous support to the expansion of its overseas client base. Chen Feng, the general manager of the company’s marketing center, said:“At the beginning of 2013, the company began to get in contact with the wind power giant VESTAS, but the transportation plan of its cargo must be approved by a technology consulting company entrusted by the shipper. Therefore, the freight technology team continuously refined the transportation plan. From version A at the beginning to version L at the end, a total of 12 versions were developed and finally,they won the first shipping contract with VESTAS for three ship loads of wind power equipment with a total volume of 100,000 cubic meters. After experiencing our prudently devised transportation plan, professional on-site supervision and other high-quality services, VESTAS has growing trust for us and opened its doors for further cooperation. Similarly, with high-standard professional performance, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized won the contracts with well-known wind power enterprises such as Siemens, GAMESA and Xinjiang Goldwind Sci & Tech Co., Ltd. afterwards. In recent years, the company’s wind power cargo shipments have exceeded one million cubic meters each year.”
Cai Liancai, the general manager of the freight technology center, told the reporter: “In the past eight years, the team of the transportation technology center has kept catching up with the world’s first-class shipping companies, challenging technical limits, setting new records, and establishing classic cases in the fields of semisubmersible ships and heavy-lift ships. In terms of some certain technologies, the team has even surpassed its competitors and become a true leading runner who focuses on making technological breakthroughs in major projects, overcoming technical challenges, and keeping on setting new records in the shipping industry.” Then, he proudly listed several major projects that his team spearheaded in recent years: in August 2014, the company set the new record of one heavy-lift ship carrying seven complete RTG machines on a single voyage; in January 2016, heavy-lift ship Da An safely unloaded a 650-ton tugboat at the port of Buenos Aires in Argentina, creating the record of heavy-lift ship lifting and carrying a single piece of cargo weighing over 600 tons; in the Yamal project, the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Arctic, the company’s semi-submersible ship not only took the maiden voyage of the project modules, but also carried the heaviest module of the project, successfully overcoming the challenge of using SPMT to laterally roll a module of 6,500 tons off the ship; during the YAMAL project, the team assisted the company in winning the module shipping service contract for the TCO project, the world’s largest oil and gas development project. In the meantime, the company focuses on technological innovation and has successfully designed and developed the heavy-duty lifting beam with leading technology in China, effectively breaking through the technical bottlenecks in fields such as “transportation plus installation”, and achieving new leaps in technical support for China’s shipping industry.
To be the leading runner in freight technology, high-quality technical personnel is the key. Since the establishment of the freight technology center, both the quantity and quality of its team members have been continuously on the rise. The number of them has grown from 16 to 37, with another 12 key technicians working in critical positions at home and abroad to provide freight technology support for the company’s fleets. The quantity of port captains is also increasing, and at the same time, the company has established the port captain outsourcing channels with companies that have premium resources such as DNV GL, continuously replenishing the team and accumulating human resources for it. “As long as we are not bound by hardware limitations of the carrying vessels, we are fully capable of doing whatever our competitors are capable of doing or feel confident enough to challenge. Especially when it comes to the complete installation of offshore platforms with DP (dynamic positioning) technology, we have far more successful cases than our competitors, and our client reviews are also much better. Cai expressed full confidence in his team, “In the field of heavylift ships, our team is currently climbing up toward the advanced stage, and we are very competitive in the market.”
General Secretary Xi Jinping said: “If China wants to achieve prosperity and rejuvenation, it needs to devote great energy to promoting science and technology.” He also noted that “Core technology cannot be obtained by ‘begging alms.’ We must rely on our own hard work.” Looking back on development course of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized, we can see its major transformations from hiring foreign technicians at great cost to make technical plans, to devising the plans completely on its own; from relying on others for technologies, to becoming a leading runner in the shipping industry. The company has achieved great successes and vigorous growth through keeping the initiative in its own hands, relying on its own efforts and working with great diligence and stamina. The company’s relentless efforts in developing its freight technology are paying off tremendously and will continuously offer powerful support for the strategic development of it.
At the second Belt and Road Forum for International Co-operation, President Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech: “Going ahead, we should focus on priorities and project execution, move forward with results-oriented implementation, just like an architect refining the blueprint, and jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.” The author believes that the quality-oriented development path of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized is exactly a meticulous blueprint of the“Maritime Silk Road” drawn with great ingenuity and entrepreneurship.