Shipyards in Nantong, China are struggling in shipbuilding sector, while their offshore business are steadily progressing, said Nantong Economic and Information Technology Commission of China.

During the first six months of 2012, overall newbuilding deliveries in Nantong saw a decrease by 10.8% year-on-year to 3.22m dwt. Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) delivered about 1.28m dwt, 31.6% more than H1 2011, while New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, Rongsheng Heavy Industry, etc., saw their delivery declined.

During the same period, only a total of 0.38m dwt were contracted and orderbook at the end of June stood at 21.85m dwt, dropped by around 16% on the end of 2011.

Meanwhile, unlike limping shipbuilding segment, shipbuilders in Nantong produced quite satisfactory results from offshore facility business. Already more orders than 2011 have been contracted from offshore sector, with a total of $2.15bn.

Also, more shipbuilders have advanced into the offshore market. At present, NACKS, Rongsheng, Nantong Blue Island Offshore Engineering, Wison (Nantong) Heavy Industry, etc., have inked orders for offshore facilities.

Nantong-based shipyards' orderbook in the offshore sector, as of the end of June, totalled around $4.5bn, while deliveries of offshore facilities and specialized vessels during the first half increased by 22.2% year-on-year to 2.496m cgt.