On 28 November 2025, a keel-laying ceremony was held at the Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. shipyard in China for a 62,000 DWT Multi-Purpose Heavy Lift Vessel (shipyard number TK2313), which will be named “KOPERNIK”. The vessel is being built for CHIPOBROK – the Chinese-Polish Joint Stock Shipping Company.
The keel laying was officially confirmed by the Polish Register of Shipping, which issued a “Report on Ship Construction Progress” on the same day.
Vessel specifications and classification
The vessel is being constructed based on technical documentation approved by PRS. The documentation has been reviewed for compliance with the PRS Rules for the Classification and Construction of Sea-Going Ships, relevant international conventions, and additional requirements of the Liberian maritime administration – the vessel’s flag state.
Upon completion, the vessel will be assigned the PRS class symbol:
*KM DRY CARGO SHIP ACC(570) HC/E CG IWS AUT ECO REC ECO BWM.
Participants of the ceremony
Representatives from the shipyard, the shipowner, and the classification society attended the ceremony. The Polish Register of Shipping was represented by:
- Aleksander Łęgowski – Director of the Ship Division,
- Bartosz Dombrzalski – Deputy Manager of the Machinery & Equipment Department,
- Leszek Pokora – Head of the PRS Shanghai Branch Office,
- Chong Wang – Deputy Head of the PRS Shanghai Branch Office,
- Karol Pokora – Business Development Specialist,
- Wojsław Babiński – Manager of the construction supervision team.
Continuation of long-term cooperation
The Polish Register of Shipping has supervised the construction of numerous Chipolbrok vessels in Chinese shipyards, including Jiangnan in Shanghai, COSCO in Dalian, and most recently Chengxi in Jiangyin.
The “KOPERNIK”, currently under construction, is a sister vessel to others previously built in this series: “YU AN”, “BOYM”, and “DE AN”.
The “KOPERNIK” project confirms the long-standing, close cooperation between PRS and Chipolbrok, which has continued for decades.
