As China Becomes Leading Maritima Nation

Kitack Lim, Secretary General, IMO

The first warship to be built in Egypt was launched during a ceremony on September 6, 2018 in Alexandria. The Port-Said Gowind corvette was constructed by Alexandria Shipyard through an industrial cooperation with France’s Naval Group.

The new warship will contribute to increase the Egyptian Navy Power alongside the first ever delivered Gowind corvette, El-fateh, which is already already deployed by the Egyptian Navy. The newest corvette is the fifth ship designed by Naval Group to be operated by the Egyptian Navy, after the already delivered FREMM frigate Tahya Misr in 2015, the two Landing Helicopter Docks Nasser and Sadat in 2016 and, corvette Elfateh in 2017.

Port Said, the first ever Egyptian made warship, has identical features and possesses the same performance level than the sea-proven Elfateh, which was built on Naval Group’s site in Lorient and delivered to the Egyptian navy last autumn.

The modular design of the Gowind corvette enabled Naval Group to meet the specific requirements of the Egyptian navy in the shortest time scale possible. The Gowind corvette, ordered in 10 units, meets the challenges faced by navies in changing war environments and offers a complete, multi-mission combat ship for sovereignty operations, the fight against illicit trafficking or maritime protection.

The Gowind corvette integrates the latest generation of combat systems developed by Naval Group, SETIS, the “Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PSIM)” – a combination of the integrated mast with its various sensors and the Operational Centre and associated technical premises – and the high level of integration, automation and user-friendliness of the Naval Group systems.

In addition to the Egyptian contract, Malaysia bought Gowind corvettes in 2012.

China Leads Global Shipping

China is the top international shipping nation according to a new report presented by DNV GL and Menon Economics at SMM trade fair in Hamburg.

The study, entitled “The Leading Maritime Nations of the World”, benchmarks the 30 leading maritime nations around the world in four key maritime pillars: shipping, finance and law, maritime technology and ports & logistics, in an attempt to understand the key drivers behind national maritime success.

The new report follows up the 2017 report by Menon and DNV GL on the “Leading Maritime Capitals of the World” but shifts the focus to an extensive review of the maritime industry at the national level.

As explained, the 30 nations were ranked by size and magnitude on all four key maritime pillars and their subgroups. As the shipping sector is the main engine of the entire maritime industry, more weight was given to the shipping sector.

The 2018 report ranks China as the world’s leading maritime nation, due to its top four ranking in all of the maritime pillars. China’s position is particularly strong on the ports and logistics pillar, with the world’s largest container and bulk ports.

“The strength of China is overwhelming, particularly on the pillar of ports and logistics, but also in shipping,” Erik W. Jakobsen, Managing Partner in Menon Economics and co-author of the report, said.

“It should not surprise us, though, since China is the largest exporting and importing country of the world. The other economic superpower, USA, follows China on the ranking, with major ports and maritime cities both on the east and west coast,” he added.

The USA is placed second, scoring high on all four dimensions, followed by Japan. Germany, Norway and South Korea, share the fourth place. Germany’s strength lies in its consistency, with a top five spot in three categories, whereas Norway has its strongest position within maritime finance & law and maritime technology. South Korea scores top in maritime technology and is among the top 10 in shipping and ports & logistics.

“For the top 3 maritime nations, the study’s rankings mirror the size of their national economies,” Shahrin Osman, Regional Head of Maritime Advisory for South East Asia, Pacific and India, at DNV GL Maritime, who co-authored both the 2017 and 2018 reports, commented.

“Interestingly however, in the joint fourth position of Norway, South Korea, and Greece in the 7th position, we can see that ‘smaller’ countries can still have an outsize influence and importance to the maritime world, due to their traditions, history and innovations,” he further said.