China's first domestically built large cruise ship Adora Magic City undergoes final preparations for the floating of the vessel by adding water into the assembly dock in a shipyard in Shanghai on June 1, 2023. The ship is scheduled to leave the dock on June 6, reflecting a breakthrough in China's shipbuilding industry, according to media reports. Photo: cnsphoto

China's first-ever domestically built large cruise-liner Adora Magic City completed first sea trial for eight days and docked at the pier in Shanghai on Monday, and it won't long before the ship embarking on its maiden voyage.

The ship underwent more than 60 test tasks including the driving system, operational system and powering management system, all of which are proved to meet the required standards, according to a report of China Media Group.

The smooth tests even led to the liner returning one day earlier than planned.

The completion of the ocean trial marked a milestone for China's first-ever domestically developed cruise ship that has materialized from a blueprint to entering the ocean, coming a step closer to its final delivery, industry observers said.

The liner will soon enter the final sprint phase of equipment system commissioning and interior engineering, making preparations for the second sea trial, scheduled for the third quarter of the year, according to the report.

Final delivery of the cruise liner is slated at the end of 2023.

After the ship is delivered, China will become the fifth country able to build large cruise ships after Germany, France, Italy and Finland.

According to Wu Xiaoyuan, shipbuilding director with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co, which is Adora Magic City's builder, there are a total of 2125 guest rooms on the ship, and is able to accommodate 5,246 passengers at full capacity. 

The cruise ship, measuring 323.6 meters in length and 37.2 meters in width, has 2,826 cabins.

In addition to the guest rooms, the staff restaurant and medical center on the ship have been renovated, which can provide basic living quarters for the crew in the follow-up trial voyage.

Regarded as a breakthrough in the nation's shipbuilding and high-end manufacturing, the cruise ship is the world's most complex single electromechanical vessel with more than 25 million parts, five times the number of individual parts used in China's first domestic aircraft, the C919, and 13 times the number used in the Fuxing bullet train series.

Large cruise ships are among the "crown jewels" of the global shipbuilding industry, along with aircraft carriers and large LNG carriers.

The building of the Chinese cruise ship started in 2019 in Shanghai. Over the past few years, its builder has made breakthrough in multiple core technologies such as weight control, vibration reduction and harbor returning.

In the first half of the year, shipbuilders across the country completed vessel construction totaling 21.13 million deadweight tons and received 37.67 million deadweight tons of new shipbuilding orders, up 14.2 percent and 67.7 percent, respectively, both ranking the No.1 position in the world, data from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry showed.

Global Times