Rapp Marine to supply equipment for Chinese ships

This Chinese research vessel along with another icebreaker being built for China will feature equipment supplied by Rapp Marine

DECEMBER 22, 2015—Crane and deck machinery specialist Rapp Marine will supply advanced equipment packages for two new oceanographic research vessels that are being built for Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS) and the Polar Research Institute of China, PRIC.

“The contracts were awarded in a highly competitive market against strong international competition. The choice fell on Rapp Marine since we can offer the best technological solutions, we have extensive experience with these types of deliveries, and because we were able to offer competitive terms,” explains Rapp Marine CEO Helge Vatnehol (shown below at right).

Rapp Marine says the award reaffirms its leading position for advanced research equipment in the international market as a whole, and in particular the Asian market, where the company has won most of the contracts allocated in recent years.

The oceanographic research vessel for GMGS will engage in surveillance, research and advisory services. Onboard are laboratories and workstations used to collect the data that is analysed by researchers and scientific advisors.

The research vessel for the Polar Research Institute of China will be a 122.5m icebreaker—the first icebreaker built in China. It will operate the vessel in the Southern Ocean, with a view to supplying China’s Antarctic Zhongshan Station. PRIC was founded in 1989 as a non-profit organisation reporting directly to the State Ocean Administration. PRIC is also the only organisation in China that has specialized in polar expeditions. Today they operate the Xue Long, a vessel that will work together with the new ice-breaker to supply and assist researchers at the Antarctic Zhongshan Station.

The deliveries are highly advanced technologically and wholly developed in Bodø, Norway, where most of the detail engineering will also take place. Production will be from the company’s new factory in Serbia.

“We have worked long and hard to land these contracts, so this is a joyful occasion,” says Tove Pettersen, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing.

“Most maritime nations are working on plans to build oceangoing research vessels,” says Pettersen, “and we are involved in exciting processes for a number of similar projects, apart from which we also see an increasing demand from the fishery sector.”

Rapp Marine is currently delivering systems for eight similar vessels, and thanks to this process and earlier deliveries, the company has built up a solid knowledge base both for operation and use of the equipment, as well as its design and production. All this puts Rapp Marine in a unique position to offer advice and guidance to customers and offer optimal solutions for the operations they plan to conduct.

“These contract awards may be extremely gratifying, but we will continue to depend on our ability to conclude more orders to ensure sound, profitable continuing development. We are very confident that we can do that, and there are many exciting contract awards in the months ahead that we are working really hard to secure,” promises Vatnehol.

“This is a great compliment to management and the strong professionalism that has evolved within Rapp Marine Group and particularly here in Bodø,” says Board Chairman Bjørn Hesthamar.