Final assembly of oil rig begins

SHANGHAI Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co said yesterday it has started final assembly of a 6-billion-yuan (US$877 million) offshore oil rig, China's first self-designed semi-submersible drilling platform.

The oil rig, designed by the No. 708 Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, will be completed by the end of 2010. The drilling rig, the first domestically made and claimed to be the most advanced type of its kind in the world, will be delivered to China National Offshore Oil Corp after completion.

The State Council drew up guidelines at the end of March to build Shanghai into a major international financial center and shipping hub by 2020. Premier Wen Jiabao also urged an integration of port resources in the Yangtze River Delta, with Shanghai as the hub.

Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is also setting up its own marine engineering facility, Shanghai Lingang Offshore and Marine Co Ltd, in Lingang New City in Shanghai's southern Nanhui District. Construction of the facility will be done by 2010.