At 15:38 PM Nigeria local time on November 18, 2022, along with the “Down” instruction from the rigger, the first 10,000m³ ASME standard LPG spherical tank built by CIMC Jingmen Hontu, a member enterprise of CIMC,was finally completed after 40 days’ laborious work.

Looking back to the assembly process of the first 10,000m³ spherical tank, countless difficulties and obstacles the team went through are still pretty vivid. The weather condition in Nigeria is quite the opposite to it is in China currently, which means Nigeria is in dry season with high temperature and high humidity. To make sure the project can be completed and delivered to the customer on time, all the project team members did their best to overcome the harsh weather and living condition, kept working and sticking to at their respective jobs. Accompanied with the grand sound from the crane and the shinning light from the welding operation, the spherical project has been moving on accordingly. Every single drop of sweat is the hard work from Hongtu members, which is the combination of perseverance and devotion.

There was a successful cooperation between the Client and Hongtu in 2018, 2 sets of 6000m³ LPG spherical tanks and the supporting terminal has won the absolute satisfaction from the customer. Hence the Client chose Hongtu from various competitors without hesitation. As we learn from Hongtu, this project includes 4 sets of 10,000m3 LPG spherical tanks and 3 sets of oil tanks plus a fire protection water tank. Hongtu is in charge of all the tanks and design of pipes, together with the material procurement, plant prefabrication, site installation and the on-site commissioning work.

Knowing that there is another chance to work with an old customer on EPC project including spherical tanks, storage tanks and pipes of such scale, the management of the company attached great importance to the project. Mr Zheng Zhijun, GM of Hongtu assigned the senior project manager Liu Zhiyong as the chief project manager in charge of and take full responsibility of this project. Facing with the tough situation from the Covid-19, members from Hongtu went ahead against all odds. Mr Zheng encouraged the team in person before the team left China, repeatedly told them to make sure the project could be delivered on time with high quality while everyone stays safe and healthy. In the process of the installation, all members of Hongtu adhered to the concept of safe development, continued to implement the responsibility of safe production, and strove to achieve the goal of "zero accidents" safety management, effectively ensured the sustainability and stable development of Hongtu.

Keeping GM’s words in mind, project manager Liu Zhiyong sticks to product safety and quality requirements, conducts morning meeting about safety every day before shift, reviews the safety and quality problems of the previous day, explains the contents and precautions of the construction work of the day, makes JSA analysis of the possible safety accidents on the construction content, and makes a good safety warning in advance and supervises the implementation of these possible safety risks.

Workers Carry Out in a Tense and Orderly Manner on Site

Chairman of the board of the Client is visiting the site (second left hand)

Liu accompanies Chief Engineer for site visit

“During the installation of the largest spherical tank project in Nigeria at present, your project team overcame many difficulties during the installation such as tight schedule, hot weather and healthy issues, and completed the assembly of the first 10,000m³ spherical tank safely, efficiently and with high quality. Satisfactory progress has been achieved in more than one month is beyond expectation. Under the condition that Client's early civil construction process is seriously lagging behind, CIMC Jingmen Hongtu Project team races against time, successfully reversed the passive construction situation, we really appreciate Jingmen Hongtu project construction team's dedication!" said Chairman of the Employer.

It is known that the project will become the largest LPG terminal in Nigeria and even in West Africa, which can greatly alleviate the problems of "gas shortage" and "oil shortage" in Nigeria, and provide cleaner and more convenient energy for residents in Lagos, Nigeria. At the same time, the four 10,000 cubic tanks will stand out from the many nearby oil and gas facilities and become the landmark building in the area, which will help the Client to expand its corporate influence in the local area and further develop the market.

As a flagship product of Jingmen Hongtu, the spherical tank/terminal project has occupied the first place in the national market for 6 consecutive years, which is a reflection of Hongtu’s adherence to the fine tradition of aircraft enterprises, keeping in mind the original inspiration, keeping in mind the mission, and adhering to the duty of a manufacturing company. Hongtu has always followed to the production principle of "safety first, quality first", constantly improving the overall strength of the company, further enhancing the market competitiveness, and becoming a reliable and loyal partner of customers.

Photo of Members of the Nigerian President's Office, Chairman of the Board and Senior Management Team, and CIMC Hongtu Project Team.