Shanghai Waigaoqiao Delivers Cruise Ship Adora Flora City, China's Second Domestically Built Vessel

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), delivered the cruise ship Adora Flora City on November 6, the second vessel of its kind built entirely in China following the Adora Magic City. The ship has a gross tonnage of 141,900 GT, an overall length of 341 meters, 2,130 cabins and capacity for 5,232 passengers.

Construction, which began in August 2022, took 41 months, eight fewer than the 49 months required for the Adora Magic City, representing an efficiency improvement of roughly 20% according to the shipyard. Baird Maritime noted that delivery came nearly two months ahead of the original schedule, after the vessel completed a 12-day sea trial in the East China Sea in May. The same outlet reported that the new ship is 17.4 meters longer and 6,400 GT larger than its predecessor, although most of the additional space was allocated to public areas rather than cabins.

Following delivery, the vessel will conduct trial voyages with passengers departing from Shanghai on November 9 and from Guangzhou on November 14, according to Splash Cruise and Xinde Marine News, while Baird Maritime reported that the ship would move on November 7 to the Wusongkou cruise port in Shanghai before arriving at the Nansha International Cruise Home Port in Guangzhou on November 12. The maiden voyage, a six-day, five-night sailing, will depart from Guangzhou on November 22 with calls at Hong Kong and Chan May, Vietnam, with Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing serving as the launch ambassador, according to Marine Insight.

The share of domestically sourced components and materials rose by around five percentage points compared with the first ship, according to Splash Cruise and Xinde Marine News, which put the total domestic content at 35%, while Marine Insight specified that domestic content in interior finishing materials reached 80%. The shipyard has built up an industrial network of around 100 main contractors and some 1,500 suppliers, and plans a dedicated cruise shipbuilding base with an annual capacity of 500,000 GT, enough to deliver three to four vessels of this size per year.

Xinde Marine News reported that the delivery of the Adora Flora City marks the conclusion of a national large-scale cruise ship innovation program launched in 2013, which had already produced the delivery of the Adora Magic City in 2023. Marine Insight noted that Adora Cruises is a joint venture between CSSC and Carnival Corporation, and that the company has already announced that the Adora Flora City will be homeported in Hong Kong in 2027, with around 20 departures planned for that season.