China completes structure building for first home-built cruise ship

SHANGHAI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Work on building the structure of China's first domestically built large cruise ship was completed Monday in Shanghai, according to the ship manufacturer.

This marks 45 percent completion of the ship, which is scheduled to be delivered in 2023, said Chen Gang, general manager of the ship maker Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.

The work will continue on interior engineering, completing mechanical and electrical projects, as well as system pre-tuning and testing, said Chen, also the chief designer of the cruise ship project.

The vista-class cruise ship will be 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide and will be able to accommodate over 5,000 passengers, according to the blueprint.

New equipment and technologies such as laser cutting and 5G-powered assembly line management have been used in the shipbuilding process, the company said.