Rolls-Royce and Bestway strengthen ship design collaboration

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, today signed a collaboration agreement with Shanghai Bestway Marine Engineering Design Company Ltd (Bestway), a leading marine design and research company in China.

John Paterson, Rolls-Royce, President – Marine, and Professor Liu Nan, Chairman of the Board and General Manager, Bestway represented the two companies at the signing ceremony.

The collaboration will focus upon development of innovative and environmentally friendly marine designs. Rolls-Royce and Bestway will share expertise through joint working, in order to customise existing vessel designs to better suit the Chinese and European markets respectively. These vessel types include product and chemical tankers, RoRo, RoPax, feeder containers, and multi-purpose vessels.

The two companies also plan to develop new designs to address the growing demand for environmentally friendly, energy efficient ships, including the application of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) power.

John Paterson, Rolls-Royce, President - Marine said: “This collaboration will bring innovative developments in ship design. Rolls-Royce has significant experience in designing and developing marine solutions that meet and exceed expectations in the face of increasingly stringent global environmental standards. We look forward to applying this experience to support the Chinese marine industry in addressing climate change.”

LIU Nan, Chairman of the Board and General Manager, Bestway, said: “This collaboration further deepens the partnership between two strong players in the marine industry. I look forward to introducing new and innovative ship designs that not only meet the needs of shipowners domestically and overseas, but also support our commitment to tackling climate change.”

Rolls-Royce has provided power systems to China for over four decades. In 2005, the company established its 6,000 square metre manufacturing facility in Nanhui industrial zone in Shanghai. The Group is also developing a network of service centres in Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou to serve its marine customers across China.

1. Rolls-Royce, a world leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, has established a strong position in global markets – civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.
2. As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce today has a broad customer base comprising more than 600 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.
3. Rolls-Royce employs 39,000 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in 50 countries. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment, and to further developing employee skills.
4. In 2009, Rolls-Royce invested £864 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental aspects of its products, in particular the reduction of emissions.
5. Annual underlying revenues were £10.1 billion in 2009, of which about half came from services revenues. The firm and announced order book stood at £58.4 billion at June 2010, providing visibility of future levels of activity.


About Rolls-Royce in China

1. Rolls-Royce has been building a strong presence in the civil aerospace, marine and energy markets in China for more than 45 years. Together with its associate company International Aero Engines (IAE), Rolls-Royce powers more than 400 aircrafts of twelve Chinese airlines, including Hong Kong and Macao.
2. Rolls-Royce also has a successful turbine component joint venture in Xi’an, and is growing its component and materials purchasing in China.

About Bestway

1. Established in 2001, Bestway is the one of the largest research and design companies for marine and offshore engineering in China. Since its inception, the company produced research on and designed more than 400 types of ships, and successfully delivered more than 2,000 projects in marine and offshore engineering.