Step by step, moving onward ! learn the skills of building a different kind
of ship from foreign ship builders to gain the expertise of building it.
First homegrown cruise ship takes shape
11:23, June 10, 2017
*Historic vessel, costing estimated $1 billion, will be delivered to HK
buyer in 2023*
The first cruise liner to be built in the Chinese mainland is expected to
be delivered to a Hong Kong-based buyer in 2023, marking a significant
milestone in the evolution of the nation's shipbuilding industry.
It is also expected to boost a plethora of supplier segments as well as
domestic tourism, experts said. The vessel will be used in the Chinese
market.
The as-yet unnamed ship will be built at Waigaoqiao, Shanghai, by a joint
venture between the State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp and
Italy-based Fincantieri SpA, the world's largest cruise shipbuilding
company.
There is no official word on the cost and cost advantages, if any, compared
to European shipbuilders that dominate the industry.
But Chen Gang, vice-president of Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a company
controlled by CSSC, said he expects the vessel to cost about $1 billion.
The cruise ship, reportedly 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide, can
hold nearly 5,000 passengers in 2,000 cabins.
For perspective, Harmony of the Seas, built by the STX France yard in
Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast for US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ltd, is regarded as the world's largest cruise ship, according to a London
Guardian report. The vessel, which cost close to $1 billion, has 16 decks
and can carry 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members.
According to Wu Qiang, general manager of CSSC, the China-made vessel will
be the first of five to be delivered on a yearly basis from 2023 onward.
Wu Zhenglian, a cruise ship design expert with CSSC's research institute,
said, "The vessel is the outcome of a decade of efforts by the Chinese
shipbuilding industry to satisfy the rising demand for water-based travel
among the country's humongous and upwardly mobile middle class."
Some 2.1 million Chinese tourists traveled in cruise liners in 2016, taking
the third position in the annual global passenger rankings, according to
data from the Cruise Lines International Association.
The rise to the third spot took over a decade.
China's cruise economy took off in 2006, posting about 45 percent compound
annual growth rate ever since.
Building homegrown cruise ships is part of the natural evolution of the
industry, observers said.
Currently, Italy, Germany and France dominate the world's luxury cruise
shipbuilding sector. In all, they make and deliver eight large cruise ships
per year, lagging the world's demand for 13 ships.
This is where CSSC sees future potential.
In October 2015, it signed an agreement with China Investment Corp, the
Chinese sovereign wealth fund, and Carnival Corp & Plc, the world's largest
leisure travel company with global operations, to form a joint venture in
Hong Kong.
The latter will place orders with the CSSC-Fincantieri joint venture for
cruise ships.
In February, Carnival announced the Hong Kong company had signed an
agreement to order the first-ever cruise ship to be built in the Chinese
mainland.
The Hong Kong company will order two new liners from the CSSC-Fincantieri
joint venture. It has an option to order four more home-built ships.
The construction of China's first cruise ship will help improve various
sectors of the domestic shipbuilding ecosystem, said Chen of Waigaoqiao.
According to Wu Zhenglian, in spite of China's strength in building other
types of vessels, the construction of a cruise ship would be a new
experience as it has special requirements in craftsmanship, quality and
other specifications.
Preparation for the project began in 2014. The design of the vessel would
need at least 1 million man-hours. The construction requires more than
3,000 skilled workers with professional education and technical knowledge,
according to Chen.
Wu Zhenglian said the building process of the first two vessels would need
extra time as it involves professionals from different cultures, who may
take some time to learn to work together.
That also presents a great opportunity for Chinese manufacturers to gather
experience of multicultural workplaces and learn foreign shipbuilding
techniques.
To meet the stiff deadline and avoid any time overrun that would result in
huge losses, the shipbuilder needs to access a global supply chain as well
as a network of domestic suppliers that can provide high-quality
components, Wu said.
