373 July 2006

Fiberglass Catamaran From China

A pair of the Elison catamaran ferries at the mainland terminus.

While much of the news out of China is of steel vessels, the country's boat building industry also has a vibrant fiberglass sector. Claiming the number one spot in south China for G.R.P. vessel fabrication is the Guanzhou Min Hua Yacht Manufacture Limited. In spite of the name, they build a good number of commercial vessels as well as pleasure craft.

This past May they delivered the fourth in a popular series of high speed catamaran passenger vessels to, Elison, an operator in the far south of Guangdong province.

At the mainland terminus in the late afternoon.

The crews put things shipshape in the afternoon sun.

A two hour drive south from Guangzhou city and west of the Pearl River estuary the departure point for the two islands of Shangchuan Dao and Xiachuan Dao is a busy terminal on an otherwise empty stretch of coastline. The islands lie about ten miles off shore. A popular holiday destination for domestic tourists, they are served by several fleets of passenger vessels. Four of these vessels, each with Elison on the cabin, are sister ships from the Guanzhou Min Hua builder. At 23.8 by 6 by 2.1-meters the catamarans are among the larger vessels on the run to the islands. The vessels carry 130 passengers in a single main deck cabin with a pilothouse on the upper deck.

Propulsion power is a pair of 550 hp Cummins KTA19 M2 engines turning .700x.952-meter 3-blad propellers through 2.5:1 reduction Hanzhou J400 gear boxes. This combination gives the boat a 24-knot speed at sea.

Capt. Zhu Shiwen at the helm with passenger attendant Miss Chen Chaoxia.

The comfortable seating area in the main deck cabin.

For further information please contact:

Cheng Yunhua
General Manager
Guanzhou Min Hua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.
Shenjing Street, Huagpu District,
Guanzhou city, Postal code: 510715
Phone: 020-82556356
Direct: 020-82556258
Mobile: (0) 1396043529
E-mail: gzminhua@21cn.com
Web: www.gzminhua.com

Linda Zhang
Marketing Manager
Cummins China
Guangzhou, China
Phone: +86 13600040695
E-mail: zhang.sujuan@Cummins.com

All photos by Alan Haig-Brown

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