Established in 1995 and starting hull production in 1999, Nantong COSCO Khi Ship Engineering Co., Ltd., commonly abbreviated as NACKS, is a large-scale joint-venture newbuilding shipyard formed by China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Sited on Linjiang Road in the Chongchuan district of Nantong on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the yard is recognized as the first major Sino-foreign joint-venture shipbuilding enterprise in China and benefits from direct access to deep-water frontage suitable for very large vessel launchings. Production focuses on a portfolio of high-specification merchant ships, including bulk carriers from 47,000 deadweight to capesize size, very large crude carriers between 150,000 and 300,000 deadweight, super-panamax and 13,386 TEU container ships, pure car and truck carriers up to 6,200-car capacity, very large ore carriers and LNG carriers, all built under Lloyd's Register and other recognised class supervision. NACKS adopts advanced ship design and manufacturing technologies transferred from Kawasaki, including precision steel-cutting, advanced block-assembly outfitting, pre-erection painting and zero-margin shipbuilding methodology, supported by a full ISO 9001 quality management system. In-process quality assurance during hull construction includes vibration analysis, noise and vibration measurement on completed vessels, dynamic balancing of rotating machinery and sea trial monitoring. The Nantong yard has steadily expanded its product mix to include high-value LNG and clean-energy tonnage and continues to deliver large merchant ships to international owners.
