TO meet the needs of China's fast-growing offshore industry and to support Chinese shipyards, major maritime classification group Det Norske Veritas today set up an offshore task force in Shanghai.

The task force, the first of its kind to facilitate building projects, comprises experts in DNV's key locations such as Dubai, Houston and Singapore.

"The offshore task force is positioned to respond rapidly to queries from shipyards and other offshore industry players, and is committed to developing local resources for the future," said Derek Hoare, DNV's regional manager for China.

China has been developing its competence and capabilities to build offshore units, such as the world's first circular deep-water drilling unit Sevan Driller and the MPI Adventure wind turbine installation vessel.

"China is gaining momentum in offshore engineering development with a proven track of record, which is attracting increasing recognition from clients worldwide," Hoare said. "We see a clear trend that more and more offshore building projects are ordered in China."

DNV has 14 on-going projects in Chinese shipyards, including wind turbine installation vessels and drilling platforms in addition to the 11 projects China delivered between 2010 and 2012.