323 meters long, 37 meters wide and 135,000 tons, it is a big, very big cruise ship which left its dock on Tuesday afternoon in Shanghai, for the first time since the start of its construction. Four years ago. I’Adora Magic City has yet to carry out a series of sea trials. But this first Chinese-made tourist vessel already marks an important milestone for shipbuilding in China.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
Fireworks, colored plumes of smoke and aquatic baptism, theAdora Magic City“ Mo Du in Chinese, left its dock at 1:33 p.m. this afternoon in Shanghai to the applause of the entire state press. Enthusiastic comments and rain of figures to salute the achievement.
As high as a building with 24 floors, 14 decks, 40,000 m2 of public space, the large white ship built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. has 2,125 rooms and will be able to accommodate 5,246 passengers. More than 93% complete when it was launched last week, the Adora Magic has yet to complete two sea trials this summer, before entering service in early 2024 for voyages to Japan and Asia.
This first is a technical feat according to its designers who do not hesitate to make the comparison with other recent local manufactures, again supporting figures. “ The large cruise ship has 25,000 pieces of electronics, 5 times the number of parts used in China’s first C919 commercial aircraft and 13 times more than China’s latest generation TGVs “, points out Yang Xin, deputy head of the department of cruise projects of Waigaoqiao on national television of China in remarks reported by the South China Morning Post.
“ Previously, large cruise ships were almost exclusively made in Europe [le dernier venant des chantiers de Saint-Nazaire en France, NDLR]. Now, with this first domestically-made cruise liner, companies and scientific institutions in China have started developing our own parts.Yang Xin said. Through the manufacture of this very first large cruise ship, we hope to build a healthy industrial system and cultivate a culture of cruising. »
“Jewels of the Seas”
In its quest for autonomy and sovereignty in all areas, including transport, China wants to tick all the boxes of the jewels of the seas: aircraft carrier, super container shipslarge LNG carriers and therefore tourist liners with, of course, a market behind.
” China is now the fifth country in the world capable of building large cruise ships, after Germany, France, Italy and FinlandZheng Weihang, executive vice president and general secretary of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association, told the nationalist daily Global Times. This will help develop the entire industrial chain. By 2030, China is expected to have 10 million cruise passengers. The Chinese market already representing nearly 50% of the Asian cruise market, with a growth rate of 45% over the past five years, commentators congratulate themselves without mentioning, at any time, the pollution linked to this industry, nor to the global warming.