Classed by CCS, China's Advanced Ocean Drilling Vessel
In December 2023, the ocean drilling vessel “Dream” constructed and surveyed by China Classification Society (CCS) was named and made its maiden voyage in Nansha District, Guangzhou, which marks a crucial step in China’s deep-sea exploration capacity building and marine technology equipment research and development. According to the plan, the ship will start its first trial voyage in Nansha, Guangzhou on December 22nd after relevant preparations are completed at the port.
As the world’s most advanced ocean drilling vessel, “Dream” is the first independently-developed ocean drilling vessel in China. It is also a self-propelled ultra-deepwater scientific ocean drilling vessel with additional classification marks such as DP3 (CR) and Battery (Power-h). This vessel, 179.8m long, 32.8 m wide, with a total tonnage of about 33,000 and am endurance of 15,000 nautical miles, can withstand level 16 typhoon conditions, has a nominal drilling depth of 11,000m, and its ocean scientific drilling capacity ranks the global leading level. This vessel belongs to the China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources. It was designed by the 708th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and constructed by CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Company Limited.
The vessel “Dream” was designed and built based on the concept of “small tonnage, multifunctional, and modular”, which has achieved multiple international firsts and innovations, and made breakthroughs in more than ten key technologies. With the world’s most advanced drilling system, it has two major operating modes: oil & gas drilling and scientific ocean drilling. Among them, the deepwater non-riser mud recovery system (RMR) was independently developed by China, achieving a breakthrough in this field. This ship is also a “hybrid” green ship, which applies the latest generation of 30 MW closed-loop power stations and battery storage technology for the first time in the world, greatly improving ship economy and reliability, and saving energy by over 15%.
The vessel “Dream” is not only the world’s most technologically-advanced ships, but also one of the most complex ships in construction. During the R&D process of the ship, faced with such difficulties and challenges as high technical difficulty, high construction requirements, and extensive professional knowledge, CCS has integrated the advantages of system technology resources and established a special working group for ocean drilling vessels, which covers all fields from drawing review, on-site survey, product inspection to technical support. During the construction period, the project team has actively taken the initiative to ensure the safety and quality of the ship, closely cooperated with the shipowner and shipyard, conducted technical exchanges with all parties, solved various technical problems encountered by the shipowner and shipyard during the project progress in a timely and efficient manner, and provided comprehensive survey services and technical support to fully guarantee the smooth progress of each node.