[ 34 ] THE SHIP OF THE FUTURE the yard’s ability to build complex special vessels which also include ice breakers and research vessels. The yard is equally at the leading edge of semi-submersible heavylift vessel construction with a deadweight tonnage range between 20,000 and 100,000 tons. GSI is also riding high with the world’s single largest orderbook for Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) tonnage. Following the delivery of P&O Pioneer, it had 25 PCTCs on order, most of which were either dual fuel or dual fuel-ready powered. LEADING THE WAY Although not putting all its eggs in one basket, GSI is somehow poised to remain the world’s number one builder of sophisticated ro-pax tonnage. Even so, southern China’s biggest shipbuilding and repair facility appreciates that ro-pax ferries remain a rather marginal segment within the overall shipbuilding business. Notwithstanding the recent ropax building spree, GSI Vice President, William Zhou Xuhui, prefers to put things in perspective. “There is demand (for ro-pax tonnage) but this demand is not a par with container ships or PCTCs,” he says. “There is no such thing as a ‘high season’ for ro-pax orders. It is generally a fairly flat market with the newbuilds primarily meant to replace smaller and older tonnage. In the meantime, the worldwide ro-pax fleet is ageing fast, so we expect a rejuvenated demand for new, more modern and fuel-efficient tonnage that meets the latest environmental and safety rules,” he adds. As passenger ships are complicated to build and draw a lot of resources, Zhou Xuhui underlines that the number of ro-pax deliveries will remain limited to an average of two to four ships per year. To bolster its success in the ro-pax niche market, GSI entered into a strategic partnership with Denmark’s OSK Design “ We expect a rejuvenated demand for new, more modern and fuel-efficient tonnage that meets the latest environmental and safety rules”
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