The Adora Magic City, the first cruise ship entirely built in China, has set sail from the port of Shanghai with more than 5,200 passengers capacity. The cruise ship is 323 meters long and 37 meters wide, with 2,125 cabins on 16 decks.
Although the delivery of a new cruise ship is a common event in Europe, it is a significant moment for China, which is once again gaining ground in tourism.
The Adora Magic City is designed to attract China's middle class, which has a growing appetite for international travel and cruises. Adora Cruises operates the ship and features a lounge dedicated to mahjong and a Chinese fondue restaurant.
The event highlights China's intention to gradually free itself from foreign technologies for complex construction projects. China has already unveiled its largest airliner produced in the country, the C919, in Hong Kong in mid-December. Now, China is demonstrating its shipbuilding skills and showing that it can drive an industry that has, until now, mainly been dominated by European shipyards.
However, due to the interdependence of economies, many components of the Adora Magic City come from international suppliers. In the future, China will have the opportunity to build its own supply chain, said Marco Scopaz, who heads the project to build the first Chinese ship and previously worked for Rina and Carnival.
This ship marks the beginning of the country's rapid and inevitable development in the design and construction of cruise ships. In the meantime, the Adora Magic City will sail in Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and along the Maritime Silk Road, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and more.
