Our pioneering WEDUSEA project is setting out to demonstrate the commercial viability of wave energy. This is an ambitious aim and to deliver it, we are fully committed to the highest quality of design and procurement at every stage.
This month we reached a further milestone on the journey, as our team carried out an inspection trip to the premises of China Shipping Anchor Chain (Jiangsu) Company Ltd in Taixing City, China (CSAC) www.csac-group.com.
CSAC are an innovative company committed to being world leaders in solutions for anchor chains and moorings for the offshore marine industry, exporting to 60 countries around the world. Established in 2012, the business covers fields such as shipbuilding, deep sea technology, oil and gas platforms, and marine renewable energy.
Currently, CSAC has three major customer service centres in Shanghai, Qingdao and Singapore, and two automated production plants in Jiangsu, equipped with 30 fully automatic chain production lines. The total factory area is 260,000 square meters, and the annual production capacity of anchor chain, mooring chain and other chains reaches 5 million tons. Among them, the production base in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, has the world’s leading single-unit production capacity for anchor chain and mooring chain.
Following an extensive procurement exercise led by University of Plymouth on behalf of the WEDUSEA consortium, CSAC were contracted to supply the mooring chain, anchors and all related components, accessories, spare parts and ancillary items, to be used in the WEDUSEA demonstration project.
University of Plymouth is one of the WEDUSEA project partners and their remit includes responsibility for sourcing, procuring and arranging transportation of the mooring equipment on behalf of the WEDUSEA Project.
It was agreed within the contract with CSAC that as part of the staged process, University of Plymouth would carry out a site visit to the manufacturing facility in China and an inspection of the equipment, following material finishing and prior to full production.
This inspection trip was carried out on 8th to 12th June 2026.
Professor Lars Johanning of University of Plymouth said: “We are fully satisfied by our inspection of the work carried out by CSAC and by the rigorousness of their manufacturing processes. CSAC is a highly professional, world class company and we have seen first-hand that the quality of the workmanship is second to none, as is the efficiency of their internal processes.”
“It was useful to learn about the company’s business values, which align with those of WEDUSEA in their drive for quality and innovation. It was also very useful to hear about their approach to material certification, safety and handling the equipment for transportation.”
Prof Johanning continued: “We are confident in the company’s ability to deliver the quality equipment required by WEDUSEA within our timescales and are pleased to authorise progression to the next stage of production.”
Full production of the equipment by CSAC will now commence at their premises in China and University of Plymouth will carry out a further detailed inspection trip in August 2026, prior to shipping.
