China’s first home-grown large cruise liner undocks in Shanghai in breakthrough for shipbuilding, high-end manufacturing
- •China’s first home-grown large cruise liner, the 135,500-tonne Adora Magic City, left its dock in Shanghai on Tuesday ahead of a series of sea trials
- •After nearly four years of construction, it marks a breakthrough for China’s shipbuilding and high-end manufacturing after the launch of the C919 passenger jet
in Shanghai Published: 2:11pm, 6 Jun, 2023 Updated: 2:37pm, 6 Jun, 2023
Adora Magic City, a 135,500-tonne liner, was built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding - a subsidiary of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Photo: CCTV
China’s first home-grown large cruise liner, regarded as a breakthrough in the nation’s shipbuilding and high-end manufacturing, left its dock in Shanghai on Tuesday after nearly four years of construction to start sea trials.
Adora Magic City, a 135,500-tonne liner built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding – a subsidiary of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation – represents a significant technological advancement for China, being the last type of high-end ship that the country had yet to produce.
The 323-metre-long (1,060-foot) ship is more than 90 per cent completed after being floated at the end of last week and it is expected to be delivered by the end of the year.
Adora Magic City will make two trial trips in July and August, Waigaoqiao confirmed last week.
“Previously, large cruise ships were nearly exclusively made in Europe, and the entire industry chain is located there. Now, with the first domestically made cruise liner, scientific institutions in China have started developing our own parts,” Yang Xin, deputy head of Waigaoqiao’s cruise project department, said during CCTV’s live broadcast of the ceremony.
“Through the making of this very first large cruise ship, we hope to build a wholesome industrial system and cultivate a cruise culture.”
According to Zheng Yiming, director of the statistics department at the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, the luxury cruise liner’s completion shows that China has the ability to build all types of complex, high-value-added ships, giving it an edge over South Korea, its major competitor in shipbuilding.
But China still needs to improve building efficiency and the quality of supporting facilities, as more ships of its kind – representing the highest level in passenger vessels – are expected to be constructed, he added.
The project was launched in 2015 when one of China’s state-owned shipbuilding conglomerates, now merged into the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, signed a deal with British-American cruise operator Carnival.
The ship, which can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers, will run on international channels that lead to Japan and Southeast Asia.
It will be the world’s first cruise liner that provides access to 5G internet, and it has the largest duty-free shop, the company said last month.
Large cruise ships, most of which have been made by European shipyards, are dubbed one of the “three pearls on the crown of shipbuilding”, with the other two being aircraft carriers and liquefied natural gas vessels.
“They respectively represent the highest levels in ships carrying passengers, military equipment, and cargo. And now we have experience in building them all,” Zheng added.
“It shows improvement not only in our building capability, but also our position in the world’s shipbuilding market, as we have
and Japan, which have either no experience or lost a lot of money in this regard.”
Compared with other types of vessels, large cruise liners are “great challenges” because they are very demanding technologically, including noise and vibration control, to provide a comfortable, safe and luxurious travel experience for passengers, he said.
The ship is also an important part of China’s efforts to boost its high-end manufacturing sector following the expansion of its high-speed railway network and the maiden flight of its
.
There are, though, stricter technical requirements for large vessels, as they travel in international waters and are also bought by European countries, Zheng said.
Shipbuilding also involves a longer industrial chain and requires the improvement of more home-made supporting equipment, he added.
“It has taken a long time for us to build the first large cruise ship. In the future, we’ll need to increase our craft level as well as efficiency,” he said.
Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding also started construction of China’s second large cruise liner in August, which will be 17.4 metres (57 feet) longer and have 19 more guest rooms. It is expected to be delivered in 2025.
