Creating a "New Sample" of High Quality Development in the Shipbuilding Industry, Focusing on Finance and Economics | First Domestic Large Cruise Ship Docking System | Cruise Ship | Domestic
On the 6th, on the golden coastline of the East China Sea, a large cruise ship with a white painted, streamlined hull and a "Dunhuang Flying Sky Ribbon" on its body sounded its whistle and slowly sailed out of the No. 2 shipyard of China Shipbuilding Corporation Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. towards the East China Sea... This was the first domestically produced large cruise ship, the "Aida Modu". The departure from the dock marks the transition of the first domestically produced large cruise ship from static construction to dynamic commissioning, bringing it closer to delivery to the market and operation.
25 million components, over 20000 sets of equipment, 136 systems, and over 500 global suppliers... The first domestically produced large cruise ship is not only another peak for China's shipbuilding industry, but also a landmark product driving the development of China's cruise industry.
A "giant system" project with 25 million components
The length is 323.6 meters, width is 37.2 meters, and the total tonnage is 135500 tons. The first domestically produced large cruise ship gives people the first impression of being "big". In addition to its large size, its outstanding feature that sets it apart from other large ships is its comprehensive functionality. With a height of 24 floors and 2826 cabins, it can accommodate more than 6500 people. The ship is equipped with luxurious hotels, cinemas, theaters, and water parks, just like a "mobile sea city".
Through these intuitive impressions, opening the "data package" of the first domestically produced large cruise ship reveals that it is a true "giant system" project.
Chen Gang, General Manager of China Shipbuilding Corporation Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Chief Designer of Large Cruise Project, introduced that this large cruise ship has 136 systems, more than 20000 sets of equipment, and a total power of 62.4 MW in the power system. The number of components is as high as 25 million. The cable layout length reaches 4300 kilometers, which is equivalent to the railway distance from Shanghai to Lhasa.
"These massive volumes and complex engineering interfaces need to be continuously subdivided, the logical relationships between systems clarified, and detailed engineering plans formulated, with over 100000 planned items." Chen Gang said, "More importantly, large cruise ships are places for tourists to vacation and leisure, which need to be safe, stable, luxurious, and comfortable, with construction standards far higher than other types of ships."
Just like the human body, integrating, coordinating, and effectively operating the entire ship's "blood system," "digestive system," and "nervous system" is a huge test of the system's overall assembly capacity. The difficulty of constructing a large cruise ship lies not only in the vastness of the project, but also in precise management. For example, a small deviation in the weight of an empty ship can lead to a significant change in the load capacity, and the deviation needs to be minimized to ensure the stability of the ship and the comfort of tourists. For example, the noise standard of cruise rooms needs to be controlled below 44 decibels, and strict control of vibration and noise on board is required.
Since the official construction of the first domestically produced large cruise ship on October 18, 2019, the project has been steadily progressing for more than three years. As of now, the overall progress has reached over 93%, and the interior decoration progress has reached over 85%. It is expected to be completed and delivered by the end of this year.
On May 19th, the name of the first domestically produced large cruise ship was released, named "Aida Magic City", symbolizing "Starting from Shanghai, Aida World". According to Chen Ranfeng, CEO of China Shipbuilding Carnival Cruise Line, the first domestically produced large cruise ship will depart from Shanghai and operate routes in Japan and Southeast Asia. It will also launch the "Maritime Silk Road" medium and long haul routes in a timely manner.
The "Digitization" project of 60000 drawings
The design drawings of a large cruise ship can reach over 100000 pages and weigh over 2 tons. Relying on traditional design, drawing, and construction methods, it is impossible to complete such a large and complex project. The only way to achieve the "digital" upgrade of design and construction is to rely on traditional methods.
The first domestically produced large cruise ship entered the production design stage and was decomposed into 60000 drawings. If the traditional two-dimensional construction mode is adopted, not only will the engineering quantity be huge, but it is also prone to data deviation. Wu Xiaoyuan, Production Director and Minister of Cruise Interior Department of China Shipbuilding Corporation Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., introduced that the design and production of domestically produced large cruise ships adopt 3D modeling, which simulates the ship's construction status in real time and can optimize the design in a timely manner during the construction process. "The reading, annotation, and sorting of data is a massive project, with over 1.8 million working hours invested in the design work." Wu Xiaoyuan said, "The completion of large-scale cruise projects has improved our data processing capabilities, digital management level, and talent team building."
China Shipbuilding Corporation Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. has achieved full process digital management of large-scale cruise ship construction through the construction of a large database using 3D models, and has developed a new generation of shipbuilding enterprise engineering management system SWS-TIME platform. Nowadays, on-site management personnel can directly access design 3D models and data to guide on-site work through mobile phones. The SWS-TIME platform has also been applied to the management of other projects, greatly improving the efficiency of ship construction management.
"The difficulty in building traditional ship products often lies in the improvement of a certain function, such as using a special type of steel to cope with a special climate, or applying a new type of equipment, etc. Building large cruise ships reflects comprehensive capabilities and is the 'gold medal' of international first-class shipbuilding enterprises." Zhou Qi, Deputy General Manager and Chief Constructor of Large Cruise Projects at China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., introduced that Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has specially built the first intelligent production workshop for cruise dedicated thin plates for domestic large cruise ships, introduced T-BEAM assembly line equipment and 8 welding robots, innovatively adopted technologies such as laser cutting and laser composite welding, and applied 5G combined with industrial Internet of Things technology to achieve intelligent control of production lines. Improved construction efficiency and precision management capabilities.
Full industry chain engineering with over 500 suppliers
"With the advancement of the construction of domestically produced large cruise ships, China's cruise industry chain has gradually been established, paving the way for development from scratch, from existence to good, and from good to strong. The construction of domestically produced large cruise ships can better support the cruise operation industry and comprehensively drive the development of China's cruise industry." said Yi Guowei, Director of the Cruise Office and Deputy Manager of Large Cruise Engineering Projects at China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
The breakthrough significance of domestically produced large cruise ships lies in the fact that this complex maritime complex drives the research and construction of new materials, components, and equipment systems, absorbing a large number of enterprise division of labor and cooperation. By leveraging the role of the domestic large-scale cruise industry chain as a chain leader, it will effectively promote the coordinated development of related industries.
"By establishing strategic partnerships with 101 global suppliers, we have achieved full process cooperation in design, raw material production, on-site construction, commissioning and delivery. Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has attracted over 500 global suppliers across industries and regions to promote cruise ship design and construction, and has also established a large cruise ship innovation center to promote the construction of upstream and downstream industrial chains. More than 40 high-quality enterprises have settled in." Zhou Qi said.
On August 8, 2022, the construction of the second domestically produced large cruise ship began, marking an important step towards mass and series construction of China's large cruise ships, achieving "dual ship construction".
At present, China's shipbuilding industry maintains the world's first international market share in three major indicators: completion volume, new order volume, and handheld order volume. Li Yanqing, Secretary General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, introduced that large cruise ships, as the "jewel on the crown" of the shipbuilding industry, are another "new sample" of China's shipbuilding industry continuously upgrading towards high value-added and diversified high-end marine equipment fields.
