• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

708 Research Institute
Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC)
National Engineering Research Center for Ship Design Technology

The Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC) is China's oldest and largest shipbuilding R&D institutes. MARIC is on the cutting edge of all of China's merchant ship design. The affiliation of 708 Institute is unclear - some sources report it is part of the of the Chinese naval group China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), and others that it is part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation [CSSC]. SDARI and 708 Institute belong to CSSC, so the designs from shipyards of CSSC are basically given to such state-owned design institutes. The design teams of China’s large state-owned shipbuilding enterprises production and design capability is strong, with the elaborate designing capability of some ship types, but in the past they basically only provided the service for their own shipyards. More recently, many MARIC designs had been sold to foreign clients in Ger-many, Norway, Hong Kong, Greece, the United States, and other nations.

The staff of about 1,700 engineers and technicians has created over 550 designs for commercial ships, including tankers, bulk carriers, containerships, timber carriers, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers; and it has designed large research ships, vessels to assist China’s space program, supply ships, amphibious assault ships capable of landing tanks, training ships, and minesweepers. China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute is a comprehensive ship and offshore engineering design research unit with long history, largest scale and strongest strength in China. It is at the domestic leading level in the research and development of marine engineering.

China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute , founded in November 1950, is a research and development institution with early establishment, large scale and many achievements in China's shipbuilding industry. It is the support unit of the National Engineering Research Center for Ship Design Technology and is the International Tow Basin Conference. (ITTC), a member of the International Ship Structure Conference (ISSC), is a master's and doctoral training unit for the design and manufacture of fluid mechanics and marine and marine structures. In the past 60 years since its establishment, the main business areas have been continuously expanded, and various types of ships, marine engineering equipment and marine equipment with world-class levels have been independently developed, which have made significant contributions to the development of China's shipbuilding industry, marine industry and national economic construction.

In 1956, the PRC began design work on its first indigenous minesweeper, Model 057K, at the First Product Design Office of the Shipbuilding Industry Management Bureau of the First Ministry of Machine Building Industry. This first-generation harbor minesweeper was built under the supervision of CSIC’s 708 Research Institute, primarily at shipyards at Qiuxin, Zhonghua, and Jiangxin. In 1962, after extended sea trials, the first vessel was delivered to the PLAN.

The shipbuilding series of the China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute has been continuously expanding into large-scale development and difficult ship types. Oil tankers and liquefied gas carriers have formed a fairly complete series. A series of ship types represented by VLCC and large container ships have become the mainstream transport ship types in China and the world shipping market. Since the mid-1990s, it developed a double-shell 150,000-ton Suez-type oil tanker that meets the new international anti-pollution rules for the first time. By the beginning of the 21st century, it developed a VLCC that meets the common rules of the International Association of Classification Societies. The China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute has achieved the performance of cross-domain development in the development and design of the tanker series. It has formed a fairly complete series of tankers, including Handymax and Panamax. Aframax, Suezmax and VLCC cover the mainstream ship types in today's world oil market.

In October 2008, the first ship of the 297,000-ton VLCC developed for Changxing Base was successfully delivered to the ship. In June 2009, 308,000 tons of VLCC developed for Guangzhou Longxue Shipbuilding Base was launched.

Since the development of China's first 3000m3 LPG ship in the 1980s, the MARIC Department of Civil Ships developed a series of LPG carriers for export to Germany and the United States. Including 4200m3 LPG ship, 16500m3 LPG ship, 22000m3 LPG ship and 8200m3 LPG ship. At the beginning of the 21st century, the liquid cargo system developed by the Department of Civil Ships was successfully applied to 3500m3 LPG ships. Bulk carriers and container ships have formed a series, especially the design of 9000 boxes and 10,000 containers of container ships to obtain real ship orders, laying the foundation for the China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute to lead the development of large container ships.

From the end of the twentieth century to the beginning of the 21st century, the Department of Civil Ships developed and designed the first domestic cross-sea train ferry "Yuehai Iron No. 1" and the follow-up ship "Yuehai Iron No. 2", which is a railway ferry connecting the two sides of the Qiongzhou Strait. An important part of Hainan’s economic development lifeline. In recent years, the Civil Ship Department of the China Ship and Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute has developed and designed a car ro-ro ship, and is developing high-tech, high-value-added ships such as large LNG carriers.

In October 2014 China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) announced that its 708 Research Institute signed a contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) to deliver detail and production design for the most advanced Dive Support Vessel (DSV). The cooperation will improve 708 Research Institute's integrated design capacity for high value-added offshore products as a part of entering production design sector.

In November 2015 China Shipping Group's CSCL agreed a deal to bareboat charter up to 11 units of 21,000 teu containerships, of which five will be options exercisable after six months of charter for the first six ships. The 21,000 teu containerships to be built at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS). The mega-sized containerships are to be designed by the 708 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC).

The marine survey vessel is one of the traditional business areas of the Ministry of Civil Ships. It has been expanded to various types of marine surveys, scientific expeditions, resource exploration, maritime law enforcement and special-purpose vessels. It develops national marine development capabilities and marine management capabilities. Special purpose ship type. The 3,000-ton Chinese sea surveillance ship “China Haijian 83” was delivered in August 2005. “China Haijian 83” is the first ship designed and built by China with a dynamic positioning system and a pod-type electric propulsion system. It has reached the international advanced level and was praised by customers as: “This is the 21st century for the national ocean. A scientific investigation/survey created a boutique."

Dong Fang Hong-3 (DFH-3) has obtained the highest underwater radiated noise level certificate from DNV GL (the world’s largest classification society in Norway), making it the world’s largest silent comprehensive marine research vessel, Wu Gang, the chief designer of the vessel and an expert at the 708th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, told the Dazhong Daily on 31 May 2019. “When DFH-3 dives under water, fish 20 meters away do not notice it,” Wu said.

On 28 June 2017, the inaugural meeting of Unmanned Cargo Ship Development Alliance and its 1st Council were held in Shanghai. Leaders and industry experts from HNA Technology & Logistics Group, CCS, ABS, China Ship Development and Design Center, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., 708 Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), Rolls-Royce, 711 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Wartsila China attended the meeting and witnessed the signing ceremony of the alliance charter.

The Unmanned Cargo Ship Development Alliance in Shanghai, China, plan to have an unmanned vessel in the water by October 2021. The design of this novel project will integrate features of independent decision making, autonomous navigation, environmental perception and remote control.

The alliance would not only promote changes in the ship design and operation, but also facilitate the establishment of technology, regulation and standard system involved in unmanned cargo ships. Combined with the accumulation of rules and standards as well as the field of intelligent ship, CCS would further promote the development and innovation of intelligent technology in the industry through the unmanned ship development.

In 2019 China Shipbuilding Equipment and China Shipbuilding Industry Comprehensive Technology and Economic Research Institute signed a strategic cooperation agreement, the two sides will carry out all-round, all-process, multi-level cooperation; with China Shipbuilding Corporation's 708th Research Institute, Shanghai Ship Technology Research Institute, Shanghai Shipbuilding The research and design institute cooperates with the official ship and special ship as the breakthrough point, and gives full play to the overall technology, design and information advantages of the research institutes of CSSC; and the development of medium-speed machine propulsion system integration technology research and machinery complete equipment production.