The overall construction progress of China’s second domestically produced large cruise ship – “Adora Flora City” has now exceeded 30% and is scheduled to reach 40% by the end of this year.
On November 13, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd (SWS), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), held a media communication meeting, in which Chen Jianwei, Assistant General Manager of SWS and Director of Cruise Ship Project Department, revealed the above information.
“Adora Flora City” has taken shape. SWS has completed the construction of 10 decks, with nearly 3,000 people working on site every day.
On August 8, 2022, the construction of “Adora Flora City” officially started. It has an overall length of 341 meters, a width of 37.2 meters, a gross tonnage of about 141,900 tons and a total of 2,144 rooms. Compared with the first domestic large cruise ship, it has an increase of 0.67 million tons in gross tonnage, an increase of 17.4 meters in overall length, and an increase of 19 staterooms, but its planned construction period has been shortened by 8 months.
The construction of large cruise ships is huge, with a long construction period and high technological requirements, and together with aircraft carriers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, they are regarded as the “three jewels” in the crown of the world’s shipbuilding industry.
According to the schedule disclosed by SWS, the construction of the entire ship structure of “Adora Flora City” will be completed on January 15 next year. Its several major construction milestones in the future include the first floating of the ship on May 1 next year, launching and sea trials in March and June 2026 respectively, and delivery at the end of 2026.
The naming ceremony of the second domestic large cruise ship was held in October this year. Adora Cruises is the owner of the Adora Flora City as well as the first domestically-built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City. The parent company of Adora Cruises is also China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).
“Adora Magic City” was officially started construction in 2019, delivered in November last year, and started its first commercial voyage in January this year with Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port as its home port.
“Adora Flora City” is equipped with a 16-story superstructure living and entertainment area, equipped with a large performance center, a large restaurant, specialty restaurants and other leisure and entertainment facilities. Its public area and outdoor activity and leisure area have an area of 25,599 square meters and 14,272 square meters, respectively, an increase of 735 square meters and 1,913 square meters compared to the first large cruise ship.
Regarding the localization rate of the second large cruise ship, Chen Jianwei said that SWS is vigorously promoting the localization rate, and one of its initiatives is to cultivate local suppliers in order to control the construction cost of the cruise ship.
The localization of “Adora Magic City” was mainly concentrated in the field of materials, while “Adora Flora City” gradually developed towards the electromechanical and interior decoration levels. Chen Jianwei gave an example that SWS has established cooperation with domestic entertainment system suppliers in the field of domestic large cruise ships.
According to the data previously disclosed by SWS, on the basis of the first domestic large cruise ship, the localization rate of the second cruise ship is planned to be increased by 10-30%. SWS has developed 21 domestic suppliers as cooperative suppliers for localization substitution.
Chen Jianwei also revealed that some European shipowners have negotiated with SWS for the construction of large cruise ships, and SWS is also exploring technical solutions and planning several potential large cruise ship orders in the external market, striving to realize the landing as soon as possible.
He added that the global cruise ship construction market is currently in a state of full recovery, and some European shipbuilders have large cruise ship orders with delivery dates scheduled until after 2035, so there is a relative shortage of shipbuilders to build large cruise ships.