Engineers at a shipyard in Jiangyin, a coastal city in Jiangsu province, have been working on a project never undertaken before in this country: converting container ships into floating hospitals.

The project involving two container vessels is now nearing completion, and the converted ships are expected to be delivered to their owner, a German elderly healthcare company, in the coming autumn, said Zhou Jianxiang, general manager of CSSC Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, a subsidiary of the State-owned industry conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corp.

Each of the vessels, measuring approximately 130 meters in length and 20.6 meters in width before conversion, had a displacement of more than 8,200 metric tons and could carry up to 700 standard containers.

The conversion work on the vessels started in July 2020. However, progress was slow due to drastic and frequent changes made to the original conversion plan by the shipowner. This led to difficulties in meeting the project schedule and finalizing specific designs. Moreover, workers at the shipyard were forced to remove a great deal of apparatus that had already been installed on the ships because of the redesigning, said engineers involved in the project.

Once ready, the floating hospitals will measure about 137.5 meters in length and 23.3 meters in width, and will have a displacement of around 12,000 metric tons, Zhou said.

Each of the converted vessels will be able to accommodate 189 medical and support personnel and cater to 211 patients. Each ship will be equipped with advanced medical equipment, including computerized tomography scanners, and 120 patient beds, he added.

In accordance with the shipowner's requirement, engineers have installed three extra decks and a helicopter landing platform. A number of equipment such as power generators, fresh water generators, kitchen hardware and laundry facilities have also been fitted.

Zhou noted that this is the first time that any Chinese shipyard has carried out the task of converting container ships into floating hospitals.

The manager said that hospital ships are of great help in the event of epidemics because they can be rapidly deployed to coastal regions and can ensure effective isolation to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Established in 1973, CSSC Chengxi Shipyard is well known for its expertise in repairing and converting ships. It is also one of the nation's major builders of commercial ships such as freighters and oil tankers.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn

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