Recently, the Saudi International Maritime Industry (IMI) super shipyard, which is under the general contracting of China Power Construction Group, has made significant progress and successfully obtained an order for six Ultramax bulk carriers from the Saudi national shipping company Bahri, with a total contract amount of 1.425 billion yuan. This batch of 62823 deadweight ton new bulk carriers, with a single ship cost of 33.83 million US dollars, is scheduled to be delivered and put into use between 2028 and 2029. It will become the first batch of commercial ships "made in Saudi Arabia", marking the official operation of the world's largest shipyard.

IMI Shipyard is a core project of Saudi Arabia's "2030 Vision" national reform plan, which was awarded to China Power Construction Group for a bid of 3 billion US dollars in 2018. The shipyard is located within the King Salman International Port Complex in Saudi Arabia, with three repair docks, three shipbuilding docks, one offshore dock, and multiple docks. Among them, the No. 4 dry dock is 550 meters long, 75 meters wide, and 13.8 meters deep, making it the largest dry dock in the Middle East region and capable of building two 90000 ton ultra large oil tankers at the same time.

After the shipyard is fully constructed, it is expected to build 4 offshore drilling platforms and over 40 various types of ships each year, including 3 VLCCs. According to estimates, the project will drive Saudi Arabia's GDP growth by $17 billion, replace imports by $12 billion, create 80000 job opportunities, and greatly promote Saudi Arabia's strategic transformation from "national oil and transportation" to "national shipbuilding and manufacturing".

The signing of this order not only verifies the technical strength of Chinese enterprises in the field of international high-end shipbuilding facility construction, but also sets a new milestone for the deep cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia in the field of marine engineering equipment manufacturing. With the construction of these first ships underway, IMI Shipyard will officially embark on a new era in Saudi Arabia's domestic shipbuilding industry. Editor/Yang Beihua