China has made substantial breakthroughs in shipbuilding as the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship made in China, one of the most advanced in the world, will be delivered in September.

Only the Republic of Korea, Japan and a few European countries have acquired the technologies to build such ocean liners.

Since natural gas can only be turned into the liquefied after the temperature dropped below minus 163 degrees Celsius, LNG ships are often dubbed as the "maritime super freezer".

The boat with a capacity of 47,200 cubic meters is under construction by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), China's top and the world's third largest shipping group.

Another four such LNG vessels also under construction would be delivered in the end of this year while the research and development for LNG ships with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters is underway, sources with the CSSC said.

The Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company, one of its subsidiaries, is going to deliver a floating, production, storage and offloading vessel to the United States-headquartered oil giant ConocoPhilips in May.

The vessel with a designed capacity of 300,000 tons is the largest and most costly vessel of its kind in China.

The CSSC will also deliver in September a 8,530 TEU container vessel and a dredger with a capacity of 13,500 cubic meters in May, both the largest of its kind in China.

The CSSC, parent company of 60 subsidiaries covering ship building, ship repair, research and development and offshore engineering, posted a profit of more than 5 billion yuan last year, more than 60 times that of 1999 when it was established.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2007)