China begins assembling first large cruise ship

Assembly began on China's first large, domestically made cruise ship on Tuesday, China State Shipbuilding Corp, the construction contractor, said.

The first large cruise ship to be built by China starts to be assembled at a shipyard in Shanghai on Tuesday. The vessel, about 324 meters long, 37 meters wide and 72 meters tall, will have 2,125 passenger rooms and nearly 700 crew rooms. It will be able to accommodate 5,246 tourists. The ship is expected to be delivered to its joint venture operator in 2023. [Photo/China Daily]

A ceremony was held at the vessel's shipyard at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding to mark the beginning of the assembly work, CSSC, a State-owned conglomerate and the world's largest shipbuilder, said in a statement.

Construction of the Vista-class cruise ship, which has yet to be named, is expected to be finished in the first half of 2023, the company said.

CSSC signed a cooperation agreement on the design and construction of two 135,500-metric ton Vista-class cruise ships with Carnival Corp and Fincantieri in November 2018.

Carnival, a British-American cruise operator, is the world's largest leisure travel company, while Fincantieri, an Italian company, is one of the world's largest cruise ship makers.

According to the agreement, CSSC will work with Fincantieri to design the ships, which will be built based on the Chinese market's requirements and Chinese tourists' needs.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding will construct the ships and then deliver them to a joint venture between CSSC and Carnival that will be tasked with operating the vessels to serve the Chinese tourism market.

A welder works on assembling China's first large cruise ship in Shanghai on Tuesday. [Photo/China Daily]

The contractual price of each ship is US$770 million. The first of the ships is scheduled to be delivered to the joint venture in 2023 and the second in 2024. The three parties also agreed to an option for another four vessels of the same type, CSSC said.

The project marks the first time China will build a large, advanced cruise ship on its own. It is a new milestone for the country's shipbuilding industry because it marks an end to China's inability to design and construct large cruise ships, shipbuilding industry sources said.

Each of the colossal cruise liners will be about 324 meters long, 37 meters wide and 72 meters tall. Each ship will be powered by five diesel generators and driven by two electric thrusters.

They will have a cruising speed of 33 kilometers per hour and a maximum speed of about 42 km/h, designers said.

There will be 16 stories of living, shopping and entertainment quarters that will offer musical performances, art shows and a wide variety of foods.

The vessel will have 2,125 passenger rooms capable of accommodating 5,246 tourists. There will also be nearly 700 rooms for crew.