The project of development and application of ultra deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform (981 offshore oil platform) was awarded the National Special Prize for Progress in Science and Technology in 2014. Harbin Engineering University, which is the leading unit of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Offshore and Ship Technology, received the honor as the main participant. On April 29th, China National Offshore Oil Corporation held a summary conference about the results of development and application of ultra deep water semi-submersible drilling platform, and Vice President Zhao Lin attended the conference on behalf of Harbin Engineering University.

“Development and application of ultra deep water semi-submersible drilling platform” project was led by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, with CNOOC Beijing Research Institute, Offshore Oil Engineering Co.Ltd , Marine Design & Research Institute of China(MARIC, namely 708 Institute) and several other organizations participating, and lasted for nearly 10 years. The Collaborative Innovation Center of Offshore and Ship Technology, led by Harbin Engineering University, played an important role in the research of various core technologies of the project.

Zhao Lin gave speeches as a representative of awarded units, where he pointed out that, HEU would continue persisting in its featured development direction while strengthening cooperation and boosting competitiveness through further innovative and collaborative development.

The 981 offshore oil platform is the first independently designed and constructed sixth-generation deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform of China. It represents the highest level of the world's offshore oil drilling platform technology, and creates a number of "the world’s first" and "China’s first". The platform is 114 meters long, 89 meters wide, and 117 meters high. Its max operating depth is 3050 meters and the max drilling depth is 12,200 meters. It is equipped with the most advanced third-generation dynamic positioning system, and is mainly used for the South China Sea deepwater exploration drilling, production drilling, completion and workover operations. Also, it can be used in Southeast Asia, West African waters for drilling operations. The key technologies of the platform’s design and construction are included in the "863" project and the National Key Scientific Research Program during the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan". Its successful construction and utilization filled the blank in the field of large deep-water drilling equipment in our country. The completion of the platform marks that China is equipped with R & D capabilities and international competitiveness in the field of deep ocean engineering equipment. Harbin Engineering University, with its decades of technical accumulation in ship and marine engineering, provided technical support for the project’s design, construction and commissioning.