Lou Danping, an outstanding alumnus of the 1984 cohort majoring in Ship Design and Manufacturing at Wuhan University of Technology, is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group and a Master Ship Designer.
He developed and designed the "Chinese Hudong-type" 74,500 DWT Panamax bulk carrier, through which China's shipbuilding industry secured orders from mainstream European shipowners in Greece, Italy, and other countries for the first time. He led his team to successfully develop the 8530TEU container ship with independent intellectual property rights, filling the domestic gap in the field of ultra-large container ships. As a key developer and designer of China's large LNG carriers, he helped China claim the "crown jewel" of the global shipbuilding industry.
He has received awards such as the "Nomination Award for the Second Shanghai Youth Science and Technology Talents". He has been honored as a "Shanghai Leading Talent in Science and Technology", "First Batch of Group-Level Experts of China State Shipbuilding Corporation", "Outstanding Middle-aged and Youth Experts in National Defense Science and Technology Industry", "Second Batch of 511 Academic and Technical Leaders of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense", "Master Ship Designer", and "Outstanding Middle-aged and Youth Expert under the National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project". He serves as a member of the technical committees of several internationally renowned classification societies and enjoys the Special Government Allowance of the State Council.
Recently, Lou Danping, Deputy Chief Engineer of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. and Deputy Dean of the R&D and Design Institute, was awarded the title of "Outstanding Middle-aged and Youth Expert under the National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project" in 2015.
As a pioneer in China's research and development of ultra-large container ships and large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, Lou Danping and his team have blazed an extraordinary path of independent R&D and construction of high-end ship types. Through unremitting technical breakthroughs and independent innovation, he and his team have mastered a range of advanced design and manufacturing technologies for high-end ships, and transformed numerous key technical achievements into patents and inventions applied in actual production, making indelible contributions to the transformation and upgrading of China's shipbuilding industry.
A "Veteran" on the Frontline of Scientific Research
In 1988, Lou Danping graduated from Wuhan Institute of Water Transport Engineering (now Wuhan University of Technology) and joined Hudong-Zhonghua. Over nearly 30 years, he has extensively studied various advanced shipbuilding technologies and, combining his professional expertise, provided solid technical support for the successful development of a series of high-end ship types at Hudong-Zhonghua. It is his spirit of daring to explore and innovate in practice that has driven Hudong-Zhonghua to continuously overcome key technical challenges in the development and design of high-end ships, filling multiple domestic gaps in the development, design, and construction of large LNG carriers and large container ships, and making outstanding contributions to the development of China's marine equipment manufacturing industry. He himself has grown into one of the academic leaders in China's shipbuilding and marine equipment manufacturing industries, serves as a member of the technical committees of several internationally renowned classification societies, enjoys the Special Government Allowance of the State Council, and has been awarded titles such as "Shanghai Leading Talent in Science and Technology" and "Master Ship Designer".
In 1988, shortly after joining Hudong-Zhonghua, Lou Danping, along with other newly graduated college students, interned in the hull workshop. After a year of internship, he did not hesitate to apply to the company to work in the technical department. "Because I felt I could stay focused and was suitable for technical work," Lou Danping said. Upon entering the General Design Office, Hudong-Zhonghua assigned him a senior mentor. This mentor not only taught him the necessary skills for ship design but also gave him the opportunity to grow through practice by involving him in the design of a 68,000 DWT oil tanker.
The design process of this 68,000 DWT oil tanker made Lou Danping deeply aware of the importance of overall ship design. At that time, there were no international regulations on the width of double hulls for oil tankers, so shipyards and design institutions had to formulate relevant parameters based on existing specifications. During the sea trial of the completed ship, technicians found that the ship's stability margin was insufficient, and improper loading operations during navigation would prevent it from maintaining an upright position. Although technicians later solved the problem by adding longitudinal bulkheads, this incident left a deep impression on the young Lou Danping. "If overall design personnel overlook technical details or fail to tackle technical difficulties in advance, it will bring serious economic losses to the enterprise," Lou Danping stated.
In 1995, to change the previous reliance on foreign drawings and strengthen the enterprise's independent R&D capability in ship design, Hudong-Zhonghua established a Development Research Institute, with Lou Danping serving as the first director of the Hull Office of this institute. In this position, he ushered in the first peak of his ship design career. In the development history of Hudong-Zhonghua, one ship type holds an important position: the 74,500 DWT Panamax bulk carrier, known as the "Chinese Hudong-type", which enjoyed a high reputation in the international market at that time. It was with this ship type that Hudong-Zhonghua, and even China's shipbuilding industry, secured orders from mainstream European shipowners in Greece, Italy, and other countries for the first time. To date, approximately 50 ships of this type have been ordered, bringing excellent brand effects and huge economic benefits to Hudong-Zhonghua and China's shipbuilding industry. Lou Danping was the key designer and promoter of this ship type.
A Pathfinder for Ultra-Large Container Ships
The upsizing of ships, especially container ships, has become a prominent feature of the new shipbuilding market in recent years. In fact, as early as 2004, the Hudong-Zhonghua Development Research Institute led by Lou Danping successfully developed China's largest container ship with independent intellectual property rights: the 8530TEU container ship. This ship is 335 meters long, 42.8 meters wide, and 24.8 meters deep, with a service speed of up to 25.8 knots. Its main engine weighs approximately 2,100 tons with a power of 68,240 kW, one of the most powerful engines in the world at that time; the power station has a capacity of 11,000 kW, adopting a 3300/6600V medium-voltage system; the propeller has a diameter of about 9 meters and weighs nearly 100 tons.
During the design and construction of this ship, Lou Danping and his technical team overcame numerous technical challenges in design and construction, such as expanding block assembly, improving pre-outfitting, transporting and installing large main engines, large propellers, shafts, and rudders, aligning the shafting in the dock, welding materials for high-strength thick steel plates, efficient welding methods and processes, and controlling construction accuracy and processes. They also conducted extensive applied research on energy-saving and environmental protection technologies, such as technologies for preventing and handling propeller and rudder cavitation, optimizing the design of general arrangement, hull lines, structure, power systems, large-capacity medium-voltage power station systems, and designing relevant lashing systems.
During the design and construction of the 8530TEU container ship, many important innovative technologies were developed. These innovative technologies were later imitated by other domestic shipyards, making this ship type a model for domestic large container ship design.
The 8530TEU container ship has excellent performance and environmental protection features comparable to advanced Japanese and South Korean ship types, leading domestically in the comprehensive application of energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, and reaching an internationally leading level in overall performance. Through the design and construction of this ship type, Lou Danping and his technical team promoted the application of a number of advanced construction technologies, improving the ship's economy. They creatively solved technical problems such as the installation process of large main engines, shafts, rudder systems, and propellers, the welding of high-strength ultra-thick structural steel plates, and the installation of transverse bulkheads, anti-torsion decks, hatch coamings, and guide rails. Meanwhile, they successfully applied for four invention patents, including Vertical Welding Method for High-Strength Ultra-Thick Structural Steel Plates, Four-in-One Prefabrication Method for Transverse Bulkheads, Anti-Torsion Decks, Hatch Coamings, and Guide Rails, Stern Hydraulic Lifting Work Platform, and Method for Reducing Cavitation on the Surface of Semi-Balanced Suspended Rudders of Ships, as well as a utility model patent for Vacuum Sealing Device.
The 8530TEU container ship has created considerable economic benefits for Hudong-Zhonghua. After successfully securing an order for 5 8530TEU large container ships from China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd. in November 2004, Hudong-Zhonghua subsequently received orders for 4 ships from Greece's Costamare Shipping and 6 ships from Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line, totaling 15 ships, creating an output value of up to 10 billion yuan. Meanwhile, Hudong-Zhonghua Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. also successfully secured an order for 4 ships of this type, creating an output value of approximately 3 billion yuan. The first ship of this type was delivered to the shipowner on September 8, 2007. The shipowner fully affirmed the ship's economy and sailing performance.
It can be said that the successful design and construction of the 8530TEU container ship filled the domestic gap in the field of ultra-large container ships. The breakthroughs and innovative applications of many design and construction technologies greatly promoted the progress of China's shipbuilding industry in container ship design and construction, laying the foundation for China to build even larger container ships thereafter. Later, Lou Danping also undertook the R&D and design of 10,000TEU and 14,000TEU large container ships.
A Pioneer in Large LNG Carriers
Large LNG carriers, known for their high difficulty, high technology, and high added value, are hailed as the "crown jewel" of the global shipbuilding industry. As one of the technical leaders of the only domestic enterprise capable of building large LNG carriers, Lou Danping has successively undertaken the R&D and design of high-tech ships such as 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers and 172,000 cubic meter LNG carriers in recent years, overcoming multiple technical challenges and breaking the monopoly of foreign shipyards. It is understood that he also serves as the project leader for several major research projects, including "Research on Key Technologies of Shuttle LNG Carriers" commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and "Research on Key Technologies of Overall Design of Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Storage and Regasification Units (LNG-FSRU)" commissioned by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
As a key developer and designer of large LNG carriers, Lou Danping led his technical team to launch a campaign to tackle LNG ship technologies starting from 1997. LNG carriers were a completely new ship type in China, with almost a blank industrial chain. Under the leadership of the company's senior management, Lou Danping organized the team to conduct in-depth research, explore bravely, and overcome one technical challenge after another. He and his team successively planned and implemented a large number of localized supporting projects, such as insulation box production lines, pump tower manufacturing, expanded perlite production, and stainless steel pipe prefabrication. During the design and construction process, he led the technical team to tackle difficulties and innovate courageously, solving the three major technical challenges of LNG carriers: the application of steam turbine propulsion systems on ships, the manufacturing and installation technology of cryogenic containment systems at -163°C, and the design and manufacturing technology of cargo handling systems, ultimately ensuring the smooth delivery of Hudong-Zhonghua's first batch of 6 LNG carriers.
When talking about his achievements, Lou Danping remains humble. He believes that the competitiveness of China's shipbuilding industry lies in sustainable innovation. Driven by this concept, on the basis of the 172,000 cubic meter and 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers, Lou Danping and his team have actively developed 160,000 cubic meter, 174,000 cubic meter, and 220,000 cubic meter electric propulsion LNG carriers, as well as 172,000 cubic meter LNG carriers equipped with low-speed engines and re-liquefaction devices. These ship types received a huge response upon their launch. Later, Hudong-Zhonghua successfully won orders for 4 172,000 cubic meter LNG carriers from ExxonMobil, 4 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers from Australia's Curtis Company, and 6 shipbuilding orders for China National Offshore Oil Corporation's Australia Queensland APLNG transportation project. Currently, Hudong-Zhonghua holds orders for 11 large LNG carriers, continuing to lead the domestic market.
A Disseminator of Advanced Shipbuilding Technologies
While pursuing innovation and progress himself, Lou Danping also 不忘 exchanging and disseminating experience and knowledge, constantly introducing Hudong-Zhonghua's major technical progress to China's shipbuilding industry. In daily work, he is a "theoretical practitioner" who is good at summarizing and analyzing. He has published many papers, such as Development of 7100TEU Ultra-Large Container Ships and Digestion, Absorption and Independent Innovation of LNG Ship Construction Technology. In 2014, he published his monograph Stability of Bulk Grain Carriers. This book systematically summarizes Lou Danping's rich experience in bulk carrier design, integrating the achievements of predecessors, and undoubtedly provides excellent guidance for beginners just entering the field of ship design. For experienced technicians, it also offers detailed empirical references and is highly readable.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to China's shipbuilding industry, he has been named a "Shanghai Leading Talent in Science and Technology", "First Batch of Group-Level Experts of China State Shipbuilding Corporation", "Outstanding Middle-aged and Youth Experts in National Defense Science and Technology Industry", "Second Batch of 511 Academic and Technical Leaders of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense", and "Master Ship Designer", and has received awards such as the "Nomination Award for the Second Shanghai Youth Science and Technology Talents". The title of "Outstanding Middle-aged and Youth Expert under the National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project" undoubtedly affirms his achievements and contributions once again.
