Construction of "Zhifei", China's first autonomous container merchant ship, recently commenced in Qingdao, Shandong province. The vessel will be powered by a new generation diesel engine called WH20.

The 300 TEU container ship, which has a gross tonnage of 5,644 tons, is China's first transport ship with intelligent navigation capabilities. It will have three operation modes: manual, remote control and autonomous navigation.

The design sketch of China's first autonomous container merchant ship, "Zhifei" [Photo/WeChat account: weichai-news]

The WH20 series diesel engine belongs to a new generation of medium-speed diesel engines and was jointly developed by Weichai, a leading Chinese heavy-duty truck and components developer, and Germany-based FEV Group.

The engine, which is equipped with an intelligent control system, remote data collection and monitoring capabilities, can be used on transport ships, fishing boats, engineering ships and offshore engineering platforms, according to Weichai.

The WH20 diesel engine is jointly developed by Weichai and Germany-based FEV Group. [Photo/WeChat account: weichai-news]