| Kingship 110 |  |
It should not come as a huge surprise to anyone who follows the
commercial ship construction industry that China ultimately will produce
high-quality yachts. China is, after all, the third largest shipbuilding nation
in the world and is projected to surpass both Korea and Japan within the next 10
years. What many will find surprising, however, is that little-known Kingship
Marine, a yard just three years old, could with its very first launch succeed in
producing a yacht of design, finish and systems complexity on a par with many
mainline builders in Europe and the United States.
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While it could be argued that the success of the Kingship 110,
a steel-and-aluminum 110-foot (33.5-meter) expedition-style yacht, represents an
Olympian feat of construction that may not be reproduced by successive launches
from the yard, it does send a clear message about Kingship’swillingness—and
China’s capacity—to compete in theglobal yachtbuilding arena.
Kingship’s new facilities are in Zhongshan, a booming
metropolis of two million located a 90-minute ferry ride outside of Hong Kong.
While the Kingship 110 is its inaugural launch, it is not the first yacht
built by the yard’s owner, Roger Liang. In 1996, Liang, then owner of Greenbay
Marine in Singapore, launched a sleek 100-footer named Pearl of the Orient.
That yacht, built of extruded sheets of aluminum, surprised many with her fair
finish and superb paint job, and with the quality of her interior woodwork.
Liang sold Greenbay Marine after Pearl’s launch due to the unstable workforce in
Singapore.
Liang, whose family once owned the lucrative Hong
Kong–to-Macau high-speed ferry, next turned his boatbuilder’s eye to China, but
not before exploring the possibility of opening a yard in Vietnam, Malaysia
or Australia. "I decided on China," Liang said, "because labor is abundant and
engineers are easy to find." He also said China was a natural choice because of
its massive shipbuilding industry, which ensures a broad supply of products
and materials, not to mention support services such as Lloyd’s surveyors and
class societies. He chose Zhongshan, he said, because of its proximity to
airports in Hong Kong and Macau. As a center of light industry the waterfront
city also provides ready access to high-quality maritime services and to
woodwork and furniture providers, as well as such critical items as lighting,
stonework and glass.
 The sun deck sits three full decks above the
waterline and offers great views. (Click image to enlarge)
So far, Liang said, his ambitious project has gone as expected, though
the Kingship 110 was about a year late in delivery. He acquired his deepwater
riverfront property five years ago and began building his facilities two years
later. Construction began on the 110 in July of 2004, and Kingship found its
first client, a European industrialist based in the south of France, three months later. A
businessman who had visited more than 150 factories and industrial
installations in China, Kingship’s first client brought both confidence and
enthusiasm to the challenge of building a world-class yacht in the People’s
Republic. The owner of a 48-meter Amels based in the Med, the owner said he was
intrigued at the prospect of significant savings. "I’d been to China and knew
that quality levels have soared in the past ten years. I knew there was no
reason on a broad scale to be concerned about quality in China." But he also
clearly understood that achieving a high level of quality, even at a highly
reduced cost, was not without concern. "The pricing was very competitive," he
said, "but the risk was high." He sent his fleet manager to Zhongshan and was
encouraged by what he heard: Kingship had excellent facilities, including
comfortable accommodations in the shipyard for those who would be asked to live
in China during the term of construction.Both Liang and the owner were of a single mind when it came to
structuring and supervising the project. Even before he received his first
contract, Liang said he was planning to invest in a team approach by creating
cadres of shipyard employees who would shadow the best offshore subcontractors
he could source. Furthermore, his client augmented Liang’s investment with
strong project management of his own, including having his captain and engineer
in Zhongshan during construction, and also by upgrading systems at every
possible opportunity. "Not that Roger and his team were incapable, but I thought
it was important to give him the benefit of knowledge, even if it came at my
expense," the owner said. A critical factor in the 110’s success, Liang said, was
investing in 3-D computer drawings to make sure plumbers and electricians
understood precisely how to execute their installations. The yacht’s
subcontractors included some of the most experienced in the industry, including
Royal Teak Decks of Italy, Heinen & Hopman air conditioning, marine
electronics by Larry Smith and painting by Mast Jachtschilders. The owner
insisted on full engineering by Holland’s Vripack to initial profile and
arrangements by Ward Setzer and naval architecture from SeaQuest. The yacht is
fully classed to Lloyd’s with full MCA compliance. A Dutch subcontractor cut
and shaped the plates for the yacht’s steel hull and aluminum
superstructure, which were shipped to China and assembled at the yard. The 110’s
simple but well-executed woodwork was created on site by a joint venture between
the shipyard and a local producer of high-quality cabinets.
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