The world's first 400,000-ton ore carrier equipped with rotorsails, the "Suha," recently berthed at the Dongjiakou Port Area of Qingdao Port in Shandong Province. This marks the first successful docking of such a vessel at a northern Chinese port, representing a significant breakthrough for QINGDAO PORT in handling specialized ultra-large vessels and demonstrating its strong capabilities in berthing operations for such ships. The achievement provides replicable and scalable berthing experience for future operations with similar vessel types.
The "Suha" measures 360 meters in length and 65 meters in width, with a deadweight capacity of 400,000 tons. The vessel is equipped with five foldable rotorsails on its port side, each with a diameter of 5 meters and a total height of 37.8 meters. While these rotorsails provide assistance during ocean voyages, they present significant challenges for berthing operations.
Due to the positioning of the rotorsails, the ship faces difficulties with port-side mooring lines, necessitating a turn-around maneuver within the port basin to berth starboard-side. The massive inertia and weak stopping performance of a fully loaded 400,000-ton vessel during port basin maneuvering places extremely demanding requirements on water area conditions, vessel handling precision, and tugboat coordination.