The?newly-built crane ship CNOOC-201 set out on its maiden voyage for the South China Sea in Qingdao, Shandong province, May 15, 2012. [Photo / Xinhua]

BEIJING - China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil producer, announced Tuesday it would send a newly-built crane ship to the South China Sea to carry out deepwater pipe-laying operations.

The CNOOC-201, China's first deepwater pipe layer crane ship, set out on its maiden voyage for the South China Sea just days after the country started deepwater drilling in a sea area 320 km southeast of Hong Kong.

According to Yang Hua, general manager of CNOOC, the crane ship can lay pipes 3,000 meters under water and lift 4,000 metric tons of weight.

The CNOOC-201 ship will conduct pilot pipe-laying operations in the South China Sea and formally start deepwater pipe-laying operations at the Liwan3-1 gas field in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the eastern South China Sea.

The ship is 204.65 meters long, 39.2 meters wide and 14 meters high, with a double-deck the size of two standard football fields.

Weighing 59,101 tons, the ship is capable of carrying 9,000-tons of goods on its deck and can take a maximum of 380 crew members.