A keel laying ceremony of China's second domestically-produced large cruise ship was held on Saturday morning in Shanghai, marking the onset of the vessel's hull structure assembly and another achievement of
China's shipbuilding prowess, according to official sources.
Chen Gang, general manager of the vessel's builder China State Shipbuilding Corporation's (CSSC) Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd called the ceremony a milestone in China's cruise industry development.
"In comparison with the first one, the second homegrown cruise ship was built more efficiently in terms of design and construction, with higher quality and standards," said Chen.
The vessel has currently completed 20 percent of its total construction workload, with its design, construction, procurement and logistics well underway.
Garnering ample experience from building the first China-made cruise ship Adora Magic City, CSSC has optimized the construction of a second large cruise ship and enhanced the efficiency by 20 percent, said Chen Jianwei, assistant to the general manager of China State Shipbuilding Corporation's (CSSC) Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd.
The efficiency improvement will come along with design optimization, including supply chain development and management, as well as process innovation, according to Chen.
To be named and delivered by the end of 2026, the vessel is expected to get floated in May 2025, which means its construction is at the halfway mark and ready for undocking in March 2026, said Chen, who is also the construction director of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding's large cruise project.
The 141,900-gross-tonnage ship will be 341-meter-long and 37.2-meter-wide, 17.4 meters longer than the first one. In the meantime, the vessel will add 19 more guest rooms to expand its rooms to 2,144.
China's first self-made cruise ship Adora Magic City launched its maiden commercial voyage on the first day of 2024, and has successfully completed 26 trips and served more than 100,000 passengers home and abroad so far, official sources said.
