On October 18th, 2019, the steel cutting ceremony of the first built-in-China large cruise ship, which had attracted worldwide attention, was held in SWS, a subsidiary of CSSC, and entered the substantial construction phase, which is a milestone in the history of the high-quality development of Chinese Shipbuilding Industry. It marked Chinese Shipbuilding Industry came into the official stage of large cruise construction. Picking up the most dazzling pearl on the crown of shipbuilding industry and fulfilling the dream of Chinese shipbuilders was on the agenda. It would have a significant and profound impact on the marine power, manufacturing power, and technological power of China.
At 10:18 a.m, the steel cutting ceremony was officially held in SWS. The leaders of MIIT, SHEITC, Pudong New District Government, CSSC, Carnival Corporation, Fincantieri Group, LR, CCS, and industry representatives participated in the ceremony. Mr. Chen Gang, President of SWS, presided over the ceremony.
Mr. Wang Qi, Chairman of SWS, extended his warm welcome and sincere gratitude to the guests present. He pointed out that SWS would rely on the overall advantages of CSSC to further promote the strategy of "Leading by Cruise Ship, balancing development of Merchant Vessels and Offshore Product", intensify ties with all parties, open cooperation and make progress continuously, to resolutely construct the first build-in China large cruise ship, promote the development, transformation and upgrading of Chinese Shipbuilding Industry, help CSSC to build the world’s leading maritime technology industry group, support the construction of Shanghai's global science and technology innovation center, and serve the national marine power strategy.
Mr. Roger Chen, chairman of Carnival Group China, pointed out at the ceremony that the cruise ship project would create more jobs, establish new supply chains, increase procurement opportunities, continuously promote technological innovation, further enlarge the multiplier effect of the cruise economy, create extremely high economic value, and China's overall high-end manufacturing capabilities will be further enhanced overall high-tech applications.
Mr. Lv Ming, Deputy Director of SHEITC, extended warm congratulations to the 20th anniversary of SWS. He mentioned that SWS had rich experience in the construction of large ships and a solid technical foundation, carried out a lot of shipyard renovation and technical study works for the large cruise ships. Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Government paid high attention and would actively promote the development of cruise economy.
Mr. Guan Xiaojun, Deputy Director of Pudong New District, said that the steel cutting ceremony marked that China's cruise economy obtained the local support, and would bring new opportunities for Chinese Shipbuilding Industry. Pudong New Area government, Pudong outreach development, and Gaodong town would continue to assist CSSC in the strategic planning of Waigaoqiao area for paving the way for supporting services and cultural publicity in the process of construction and cruise ship industrial chain development.
Mr. Yang Jincheng, President of CSSC, congratulated the official commencement of the steel cutting and pointed out that as the key role of this project, SWS should further strengthen cooperation with all parties, dare to be the first, shoulder the responsibility, continuously improve the capacity of management innovation and shipbuilding, find solutions to major design and technical difficulties, resolutely complete the historical and magnificent 2+4 Large Cruise Ships building task, and make a great contribution to the transformation and upgrading of the shipbuilding industry in China.
At 10:58 a.m., Yang Jincheng announced the commencement of the steel cutting ceremony.
Afterward, the participants signed on the ship-shape steel plate of the large cruise ship(H1508).
" No. 1Project " for the High-quality Development of Chinese Shipbuilding Industry
In recent years, closely focusing on the major decisions and deployments of the Party’s Central Committee, CSSC has fully fulfilled its mission and responsibility of “serving the national strategy, supporting national defense construction, and leading the development of the industry”, closely linked with the strategic goals such as the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, the construction of international shipping center and the development of advanced manufacturing, fully implemented major innovative projects such as large cruise ships, smart oceans, smart ships, marine low-speed engine, and promoted the high-quality development of Chinese Shipbuilding Industry.
The large cruise project is a major measure adopted by CSSC to carry out the spirit of the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, implement the national strategy and meet the people's needs for better life. It is the No.1 project of CSSC to promote high-quality development.
In order to implement and promote this project, CSSC has especially established a cruise industry development leadership group, a cruise industry development platform called CSSC Cruise Technology Development Co., Ltd.（CCTD), and two joint ventures respectively on professional cruise management and design called CSSC-Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited and CSSC-Fincantieri Cruise Industry Development Ltd., with the world’s largest cruise operation and shipbuilding giants-Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri Group. In September this year, CCTD, a subsidiary of CSSC, signed a memorandum agreement with the Shanghai Baoshan District Government to jointly build a cruise operation and supporting chain. A series of measures aimed at accelerating the establishment of a large cruise industrial chain integrating R & D, engineering, construction, operation, supporting, and services, and accelerating the creation of an international high-end cruise technology industrial park.
During the same period, a number of shipyards' adaptive reconstructions, such as the renovation project of No.2 Drydock special for cruise Ship and the thin plate block assembly line, which were designed and built by CSSS’s two subsidiaries, China Shipbuilding NDRI Engineering Co., Ltd. and Shipbuilding Technology Research Institute, have been fully implemented and will be put into use soon.
Good Life Calls for built-in -China Large Cruise Ships
Since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the party and government have paid close attention to and supported the development of China's cruise industry. The construction of built-in-China large cruise ships is an important carrier to satisfy people's longing for a better life, so developing local manufacturing of cruise ships is at the right time.
Compared with mature cruise industry systems in Europe and the United States, China's cruise market started late, but has developed rapidly. In the past decade, China's cruise tourism industry has developed rapidly, and the number of cruise tourists has increased dramatically. It is estimated that the total number of cruise tourists in China will reach 14 million by 2035. China may become one of the world's largest cruise tourism markets.
It is the best time to develop the domestic cruise industry. At present, the construction capacity of the global large cruise ships is slightly inadequate. Europe's annual production capacity of cruise ships over 70,000 gross tonnage is only about 8 ships, and the dock space by 2025 was basically fully reserved. As the world's most promising emerging cruise market, China is facing a rare historical opportunity to vigorously develop the cruise economy, the cruise industry, and cruise equipment.
It has attracted much attention that the Chinese Shipbuilding Industry came into the official stage of large cruise construction. On November 6th of 2018, during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), the contract for the design and construction of 2+4 135.5K Gross Tonnage Vista-class large cruise ships was officially signed and came into effect, which will be jointly designed and constructed by CSSC, Carnival Corporation, and Fincantieri Group, marking that Chinese Shipbuilding Industry has opened a whole new page.
In recent years, the country has paid more and more attention to the development of built-in-China large cruise ships. The ministries and commissions of the State Council have repeatedly issued guidance and supporting policies for the cruise industry. Shanghai has also actively promoted the implementation of relevant policies and measures for deepening the cruise economy, providing a good environment for the cruise industry to deepen its incubation in Shanghai. With the gradual implementation of high-end equipment manufacturing and tourism consumption upgrading policies, and the domestic public's acceptance and recognition to the emerging way of cruise tourism, the cruise economy is bound to usher in a new leapfrog development opportunity. The construction of the first built-in-China large cruise ship will play a positive role in promoting the development of the cruise ship economy in Shanghai and even China.
"Decoding" Giant Systems Engineering with Innovation
The large cruise ship is one of the most difficult ships to design and build in the shipbuilding industry. It is hailed as an integrated and intensive giant systems project for the construction of modern industry and modern cities. It directly reflects the comprehensive technological level and manufacturing strength of a country and is currently the only high-tech ship product had not been designed and constructed in China. Compared with the traditional three major ship types, the large cruise ship is vastly different in terms of the design concept, construction technology, operation management, etc. The design specifications are much higher than other ship products, and the amount of design work is extremely high. For example, SWS has imported 150,000 pages of design drawings and construction management documents from Fincantieri, nearly 2.1 tons.The entire ship is composed of 25 million parts.
There are about 70 public areas in the first built-in-China large cruise ship, and each area has a large number of systems. The cross cooperation and interaction among systems and areas are required to ensure the normal operation of the area. How to sort out the logical relationship between complex systems and how to complete the design and construction work more scientifically and efficiently through system integration have become the focus and difficulty of the current large cruise projects.
CSSC adheres to the development path of international cooperation of introduction, digestion, absorption, and innovation. Facing the system integration problems of huge projects, in terms of design, SWS had introduced the latest international 3D design software, invested a large number of design talents and IT support staff to continue the secondary development of the software to ensure that it can fully meet the modeling needs of the large cruise ship. In terms of construction management, the SWSTIME system was upgraded and integrated. Based on the basic process of previous shipbuilding management, the original ship construction management capability was greatly improved, and the full-time tracking of all its 25 million parts could be achieved from design, procurement, manufacturing, commissioning to delivery. The scientific and efficient production and construction will be achieved through digital mode.
The large cruise ship steel cut on the day has a total tonnage of about 135,500 tons, a length of 323.6 meters, a profile width of 37.2 meters. It can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers and there are 2,125 guest rooms in it. It is owned by CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Co., Ltd, designed by CSSC-Fincantieri Cruise Industry Development Ltd, registered into LR and CCS. It is scheduled for delivery and operation in the second half of 2023.
From now on, our own large cruise ship officially kicks off. Starting from today, there are still 397 days before the keel-laying of the first large cruise ship (H1508). We will keep our mission firmly in mind and be ready to go. The cruise dream of the Chinese will sail from here.
