China's largest oil tanker set to sail  

广州造国内最大油轮 绕地球赤道一周不用加油

你见过比我国辽宁舰航母还要大的船吗？今天，由广州广船国际股份有限公司建造的全国最大原油油轮将交付给招商局能源运输股份有限公司，即将开启它的处女航。广船国际建造32万吨超大型油轮再次改写了我国的造船纪录，“凯桂”号轮成为国内目前最大的原油轮，这也是我国自主研发、自行设计建造的最大油轮。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- The largest supertanker ever designed and built by a Chinese shipyard, Kai Gui, is about to start its maiden voyage, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

The vessel is by far the most advanced super-large oil tanker in China, with a high level of automation and reliability in performance, featuring independent technology in design and construction.

Kai Gui, measuring 333 meters in length and 60 meters in width, is the upgraded version of Xin Pu Yang, the former greatest tanker in the country.

As tall as a 23-story building, over 70 meters in height, Kai Gui has a large deck equaling the total area of four football fields, while its displacement is 320,000 tons, around seven times that of Liaoning, the Chinese aircraft carrier.

The supertanker is equipped with an advanced automatic navigation system, which enables it to sail 24 hours a day without manual operation, while it only needs 27 staff members.

With a fuel range of over 40,000 kilometers, it can circumnavigate the globe via the equator without refueling.

The high efficiency of this tanker will safeguard oil security in China, experts said. "For a country importing more than 50 percent of its crude oil, to develop its own shipment will make the oil industry cheaper and safer," Liu Yijun, an energy strategist at China University of Petroleum, told China Daily.