414 March 2007
Cummins Dominant Choice in Xiang Zhi Port
Fishing vessels being broken up on the beach in Fujian Province, China.
In the Fujian province, China in the port of Xiang Zhi opposite from Taiwan, there are about 600 trawlers in the 30 to 40-meter range. Of these approximately 400 use Cummins engines with the majority being the 6-cylinder KTA19 while about 35 use the larger 12-cylinder Cummins KTA38 engines. Capt. Cai Ya Dong is the owner and operator of the one and a half year old F/V Min Shi 6891 . Electronics on the vessel are limited to radar and echo sounder. In addition to the boat's 600 hp KTA19 main engine it has a Cummins NT855 for the main hydraulic pump. The main engine can supply back-up hydraulics if required. With a 12-man crew he fishes the vessel 140 days per year. Each five to six day trip will have a wide variety of species in the catch of about ten tons worth about 100,000 RMB (US$13,000).
Part of the 600 vessel fleet that has Xiang Zhi as home port.
Vessel licenses are limited, so to build a new boat it is required that an older vessel be retired. Apparently this is the reason for a large number of wooden boats and even a few steel boats being cut up on the beach near this port some distance northeast of Xiamen. The wooden boats are cut into short lengths and stacked like cordwood. The rate at which these boats are being cut up seems to be matched by the rate at which new vessels are being built a little further along the shore.
Part of the 600 vessel fleet that has Xiang Zhi as home port.
At the Hong Tai Shipyard there were, in late March 2007, ten keels laid with a number of them supporting the framing of new boats in various stages of completion. The keels are U-shaped and filled with concrete ballast prior to the addition of a bulbous-bow forefoot and bow stem. All ten of the trawlers will be Cummins powered with four 39-meter boats getting KTA38 engines and the six 33.9-meter vessels receiving KTA19 engines like the main engine on Capt. Cai's vessel. Each of the smaller vessels will cost about three million RMB (about US$390,000) and take about three months to build.
Capt. Cai in the wheelhouse of his trawler Min Shi 6891. The electronics have been removed for safekeeping while in port.
Trawlers under construction at the Hong Tai Shipyard.
For further information please contact:
Linda Zhang
Marketing Manager
Cummins China
Guangzhou, China
Phone: +86 13600040695
E-mail: zhang.sujuan@Cummins.com
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