The world's largest pile-driving barge – built by Zhenhua Port Machinery – is launched in Qidong, Nantong, on Aug 31. [Photo/WeChat account: zgntrb]

The launch ceremony for a giant 140-meter pile-driving barge – reputedly the biggest of its kind in the world – was held in the county-level city of Qidong, in Nantong, in East China's Jiangsu province on Aug 31.

The vessel was built by Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co for First Harbour Engineering Company Limited, a unit of China Communications Construction Company Limited.

The vessel is expected to be used by China Communications Construction to improve its core competitiveness in the offshore wind power foundations construction sector.

The barge is 124 meters long, 39 m wide and 8 m deep. Adopting advanced intelligent ship and digital ship design concepts, it can construct foundations in a smart way through an especially developed control system.

At present, the commissioning of various systems on the barge is being carried out sequentially. On completion, it will become a specialist engineering ship with the highest pile-driving height, the biggest pile-driving capacity and the strongest wind and wave resistance capabilities in the world.