Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers takes delivery of Xin Guang Hua

The Xin Guang Hua was built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company and is capable of handling 100,000 metric tons of cargo.     Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers Co. Ltd, a member of China Ocean Shipping Group, took delivery of China’s newest and largest semi-submersible ship, the Xin Guang Hua, on Thursday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
   The Xin Guang Hua was built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company and is capable of handling 100,000 metric tons of cargo.
   The ship is 255 meters long and 68 meters wide, and is nearly as large as the Dockwise Vanguard, operated by the Dockwise subsidiary of Boskalis.
   Semi-submersible ships are mainly used to transport large cargo, such as offshore platforms for the oil and gas industry, and can also be used to move entire ships for salvage. For example, Dockwise’s Blue Marlin was famously used to transport the USS Cole back to a U.S. shipyard for repairs after the Navy guided missile destroyer was disabled in a 2000 al-Qaeda terrorist attack in Aden harbor, Yemen.
   Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers has eight semi-submersible ships, with loading capacities ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 metric tons.