A close-up of the oil tanker OASIS. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

The 115,000-metric-ton Aframax oil tanker OASIS was launched on Oct 10 in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province, marking a milestone in both local shipbuilding and global maritime engineering.

Built by Bandung Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, this vessel is the largest ship ever constructed in Taizhou and the biggest in the world to be launched using airbag technology.

Designed by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute, OASIS measures 249.9 meters in length, 44 meters in width, and 21.5 meters in depth, with a draft of 13.6 meters and a design speed of 14 knots. The vessel has a cargo capacity exceeding 800,000 barrels of refined oil or crude oil and integrates efficiency and environmental innovation.

Airbag launching — a technique developed with China's independent intellectual property — was previously limited to smaller ships. OASIS has surpassed this limitation, setting a new world record and showcasing Shanghai's growing capacity to build large, complex, and high-value vessels.