On November 6, the keel laying ceremony for the SWATH pilot ship developed and designed by China Scientific Research Center for the Qingdao Pilot Station was held at Afai Southern Shipyard Ltd. The fist SWATH pilot ship in China officially entered the construction stage!

This pilot ship has a total length of 27.0 meters, a width of 13.6 meters, a design draft of 2.7 meters, and a design speed of more than 18.2 knots. It can operate safely in wave height of 4 meters or in the sea state 9, and can navigate safely in the sea state 11, meeting the requirements for frequently picking-up pilots and siding-off ships in high sea state in Qingdao sea area.

The project team of CSSRC has adopted a number of independent research and development technologies in ship type optimization, Z-type propulsion system, vibration and noise reduction, hull motion control, etc. The hull performance indicators have reached the domestic leading and international advanced level, which is a concentrated reflection of the transformation of core technological achievements.

This SWATH pilot ship has advantages of excellent seakeeping performance, high sailing rate, low underwater radiation noise, flexible operation and large working space, which will contribute to the piloting efficiency and safety of Qingdao Pilot Station. This type of ship will also become the development trend of domestic high-end pilot ships in the future, and further contribute to the vigorous development of China's pilot industry.