COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry announced that Yuanhai Silk Road, the world's first 325,000-deadweight-tonne (DWT) methanol dual-fuel ore carrier, was delivered for operation in Shanghai on October 9. Built by Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry, a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry, the vessel will be operated by COSCO SHIPPING Bulk. On the same day, its sister ship, Yuanhai Linghang, was named in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The simultaneous delivery and naming of the two vessels marks a new phase in the construction of this advanced green and intelligent ship type, moving from the successful completion of the lead vessel towards faster serial production. The outfitting period at the terminal for Yuanhai Linghang was shortened by nearly one month compared with the lead vessel, demonstrating a significant improvement in construction efficiency.

A key highlight of the delivery of Yuanhai Silk Road was the deployment of the world's first ship digital delivery system. Alongside the physical vessel, the shipyard delivered a full-scale digital counterpart, marking a significant step forward for China's shipbuilding industry from traditional physical handover to digital delivery.

Under conventional delivery practices, shipowners receive tens of thousands of drawings and hundreds of thousands of pages of documentation. They often need to spend months reorganising the information before it can be effectively used. The new system delivers data, models and applications to shipowners in a standardised, integrated format, enabling them to access and use ship information from the moment of handover.

At its core is a lightweight 3D model that reproduces the vessel at a 1:1 scale, together with a complete, standardised and reusable initial data archive. The system provides detailed visualisation of the ship, from entire compartments down to individual pipes, valves and fittings.

Using the CWBT maintenance coding system as a common reference, the platform connects one-dimensional data, two-dimensional drawings and three-dimensional models. Users can select any piece of equipment to retrieve its technical specifications, certificates, maintenance schedules and spare-parts lists. It also enables ship and shore teams to share vessel data across the fleet.

Additional capabilities include component-level disassembly simulations to support maintenance and technical modifications, as well as AI-powered multimodal search to help users quickly locate information across extensive technical archives.

The value of digital delivery extends well beyond the handover itself. By connecting the entire lifecycle—from design, procurement and manufacturing to delivery and maintenance—the system creates a digital link between shipyards and shipowners. With the shipowner's authorisation, operational data can also be fed back into the platform, allowing real-world operating experience to inform vessel design improvements, new ship development, manufacturing processes and quality management. In this way, operational experience can help shipyards continuously improve how future vessels are designed and built.

The system's technical approach has received successive industry recognitions. On May 7 this year, Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry was awarded the world's first Approval in Principle (AiP) certificate for a conceptual digital ship based on the digital delivery concept. The certification established a foundation for a full-chain digitalisation approach to shipbuilding.

On July 11, China's National Maritime Day, China Classification Society (CCS) awarded COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry the world's first General Design Approval (GDA) certificate for a ship digital delivery system. COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry thereby became the first shipbuilding enterprise to obtain approval for three-dimensional digital delivery capabilities. Together, the two milestones represent successive steps from conceptual validation to system-level approval, setting a benchmark for digital transformation in the global shipbuilding industry.

The digital delivery system is a key implementation of the “Ship” platform within COSCO SHIPPING Group's technology and innovation framework. COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry led the system's planning and the development of its standards, with Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry serving as the first shipyard to deploy it. The system has also been incorporated into Yuanhai Linghang.

Combined with methanol dual-fuel propulsion and intelligent navigation technologies, the digital delivery system strengthens the vessels' capabilities in both low-carbon operation and digitalisation. As more green and intelligent vessels, including Yuanhai Silk Road and Yuanhai Linghang, enter service, Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry will continue to advance the independent development and rapid construction of digitally enabled, environmentally friendly ship types.

These efforts support COSCO SHIPPING Group's ambition to become a world-class shipping technology enterprise and contribute to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.