Monday July 4th 2011

Monday 4^th July 2011
Up very early, packed two bags and checked out of the hotel, leaving the bigger bag behind with the concierge. I met up with the guys, Jon, from Fearnleys, Giancarlo and Paolo from Grimaldi and Henrik at 6 a.m. Two cars were arranged to take us to the airport and we sped there in short order. Checked in for the flight to Zhoushan to visit the Yangfan shipyard. Strangely, they asked for my old passport again. I guess they have it in their 'system' from the time I applied for the tourist visa in 2002. Anyway, after a shrug, he checked me in.
The flight was in a smallish commuter jet and was not full. It only took about 35 minutes. This resulted in our arriving in Zhoushan early and pre-empting the yards pick-up arrangements. We waited for about 20 minutes and in the early morning the oppressive heat had not yet begun so it was quite pleasant standing outside. Soon the small bus came and took us to the hotel. The roads on the 20 minute journey are lined with construction at almost every turn. Many of the new buildings are of interesting design architecturally. The impression is just one of inexorable expansion.
We checked in to the Zhoushan Sheraton, a huge and impressive edifice with jungle gardens and an enormous outdoor pool. After a quick breakfast in the hotel, we took off in the yard's bus for the yard's offices at their 'downtown yard. This is the smaller of their yards in this area. We were given a presentation of the company and Giancarlo gave one of the Grimaldi Group in return. The meeting was attended by Mr. Li the company's Chairman.
We then had a short and simple lunch in the 'canteen' and afterwards toured the smaller of the two yards adjacent to the office.
By then the heat had started to show itself and shirts were starting to stick to skin!! This yard built smaller ships and would not e big enough to handle the G-4's but it did give us a chance to see the work of the yard at first hand. In some of the built blocks of the bulk carriers they were building there evidence showed of the poor welding standards with a good seam being followed by 'stuttering'.
After a relatively sort tour of this yard we set off in a small launch to the 'North East Shipyard which is located on an island in the bay in the mouth of the Yangtze River. This yard is on a completely different scale and was commenced in 2006, meaning virgin ground was broken in that year. One can only stand in amazement at how quickly the yard has grown and how many ship shave been built and delivered in that short time. The most impressive sight on approaching the yard is the 880 meter long 'shed' where steel comes in at one end and blocks are constructed in a long cutting, welding, grinding and assembling process. The noise is very loud and the sir none too clean but few of the workers were wearing anything but hard hats, not masks or goggles or ear protection. It was notable that there were many women working alongside the men in, what appeared to be equal capacity, welding and grinding as well as more menial tasks such as cleaning up.
The workers about 6,000 in all are housed in 'company accommodation' in blocks of apartments adjacent to the yard.
Under construction, either floating or in the dry-dock or on the slipway, (there is one of each), were bulk carriers, car carriers and product tankers. As we took our tour, the heat became intense and we were all, including our hosts, getting soaked in sweat. After walking all the way through the nearly kilometer long shed, we went to the paint and blasting shops which were, curiously, enveloped in nearly complete darkness making working conditions difficult to say the least. We also saw the engine storage area where engines, imported from Hyundai, Korea are stored in dehumidified conditions prior to installation into the vessels. Finally after a visit to the piping and component store (all piping is fabricated by a subsidiary in the 'town yard'), we went to an office in the workers' apartment building block to review what we had seen. Main comments from the ACL/Grimaldi side were about quality which, even on the fairly quick and superficial tour we undertook appeared to be issues. Questions about the quality control procedures and staffing were met with answers which were not entirely convincing.
We were then taken back to the small ferry which had brought us here and on to the mainland to pick up our bags from the office and then to the hotel for a welcome shower and a beer. We were picked up at 6 p.m. and taken to the best fish restaurant in Zhoushan, (which is the largest fishing port on the coast with a huge fleet of ships). There, as guests of the Chairman, Mr. Li, we enjoyed a wonderful meal of fresh fish with some delicacies which some of us had not seen before such as jelly fish and species of fish native to the region. During dinner we were asked for our impressions of the yard and expressed our reservations regarding the quality and also the need for a stronger design organization backed up by European expertise in order to be able to confidently build a complex vessel envisaged by ACL.
After a pleasant meal we said our 'Goodnights' returned to the hotel and a short nightcap and then to bed.