Innovative vessel set to transform fisheries

Zhanjiang Bay 1, the world's first floating, dynamically positioned cage-type aquaculture vessel, was delivered for use on Wednesday in Zhanjiang, a coastal city in western Guangdong province.

Built by Jiangsu Dajin Heavy Industry Co, the vessel is capable of floating aquaculture, autonomous navigation, emergency typhoon avoidance and green-energy self-supply. Once it begins operating in waters about 30 nautical miles off Zhanjiang's Naozhou Island, it will launch pilot farming of large-sized yellow croakers. Additional species, including golden pompano, will be introduced in the first half of 2026, with batch-by-batch sales to follow depending on farming results and market conditions.

According to a statement from the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhanjiang), also known as Zhanjiang Bay laboratory, and the owner of the vessel, Zhanjiang Bay 1 is the first of its kind worldwide and represents Guangdong's largest aquaculture platform by water volume. It also leads in intelligent operations.

Described as a "mobile marine ranch", the vessel is 154 meters long with a 44-meter beam and an aquaculture water volume of 80,000 cubic meters. It contains 12 independent farming zones capable of cultivating multiple fish species simultaneously, with an annual production capacity of 2,000 to 5,000 metric tons.

Designed for extended low-energy operation, it is suitable for mariculture in waters deeper than 20 meters, significantly expanding the operational space for aquaculture and marking a step into truly offshore farming, the statement said.

The vessel's advanced intelligent systems include green-energy self-supply, all-electric propulsion, dynamic positioning, mooring, feed storage and dispensing, platform monitoring, aquaculture monitoring and wireless transmission. Together, the systems allow scientific management throughout the entire life cycle of cultured species, improving production efficiency, according to the statement.

The commissioning of Zhanjiang Bay 1 marks a major breakthrough in China's development of deep-sea aquaculture equipment and signals that the country's marine fisheries are entering a new stage of digitalized, smart and modernized growth.

Mai Kangsen, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the academic committee of Zhanjiang Bay laboratory, said the delivery of Zhanjiang Bay 1 fills a gap in high-end marine equipment in the South China Sea and signals a shift from traditional marine resource use to scientific and intelligent development. He said it is helping create a trillion-yuan ($140 billion) emerging "blue pastures" industry.

Chen Xiao, chief designer of Zhanjiang Bay 1 and deputy director of the laboratory's intelligent marine equipment research center, said the vessel was entirely developed independently by the lab. More than 100 patent applications have been filed, he said.

Hong Pengzhi, deputy director and deputy Party secretary of Zhanjiang Bay laboratory, said the institution is striving to become a "blue engine" driving marine ranching into deeper waters. With new quality marine productive forces as its core driver, he said, the lab aims to push a "blue transformation" of traditional fisheries into a modern marine industrial cluster.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn