The way for Chinese people to go out to sea and see the world +1, China's first domestically-produced large cruise ship "Aida Magic City"!

Review expert: Zhu Guangsi, member of Beijing Science Writers Association

Looking back at my country's development process, from an agricultural country to an industrial power, my country has gone through a very difficult time. Today, more and more independent scientific and technological innovation technologies have enabled my country to successfully enter the ranks of innovative countries.

On September 12, China's first domestically-produced large cruise ship, "Aida Modou", successfully berthed at Pier No. 4 of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard. The entire journey lasted six days and five nights, sailing 1,630 nautical miles. All the sea trial verification items met the standards and the sea trial project was successfully completed.

The "Aida·Modu" completed the sea trial Source: Waigaoqiao Shipyard

It is reported that the "Aida Magic City" will officially set sail from Shanghai's Wusongkou International Cruise Port on January 1, 2024 and begin commercial operations. Ordinary tourists can book tickets online.

Why did the successful trial of the "Aida·Modu" attract so much attention from the outside world? As a cruise ship, what is the difference between the "Aida·Modu" and ordinary cruise ships? Let's introduce it to you in detail today.

Part of the "Aida Magic City"

Source: People's Daily Online

1The true face of "Aida Modu" is exposed

The "Aida Magic City" was built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard. It is 323.6 meters long, 37.2 meters wide, has 20 decks and a total tonnage of 135,500 tons.

The total length of the cables laid is approximately equal to the distance from Shanghai to Lhasa. The entire ship has more than 25 million parts installed, which is 13 times that of the "Fuxing" high-speed rail. It can be called a real "big guy".

Large cruise ship "Aida Magic City" Source: People's Daily

The exterior design of the ship is based on the theme of "Silk Road", integrating the artistic aesthetics of the East and the West, adding traditional cultural symbols and modern design concepts, drawing inspiration from the Dunhuang murals, and recreating the magnificent scenery of the Silk Road in the past.

The exterior of the cruise ship is painted with "Dunhuang Flying Apsaras" style ribbons, and the interior of the cruise ship is installed with many murals and decorative artworks, creating a strong artistic atmosphere.

"Aida·Modu" Source: SWS Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding

The interior space of "Aida Modou" is also very spacious, with a total of 2,826 cabins, including 2,125 passenger cabins, which can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers.

In addition, the "Aida Magic City" is equipped with a living and entertainment area of ​​over 40,000 square meters, including shopping malls, water parks, medical centers, theaters and other facilities.

According to Xinhua News Agency, in the future, the "Aida Magic City" will introduce Happy Twist's classic comedy and music shows, as well as a variety of cultural activities designed for young people, such as sea exploration camps, theme competitions, building block courses, etc., which are very rich and interesting.

The rendering of the atrium plaza of "Aida·Modu" Source: SWS Waigaoqiao Shipyard

The ship is also covered by 5G network, providing the most advanced wireless technology, allowing passengers to experience the fastest and smoothest network services.

Why is the successful manufacturing of "Aida·Modu" so exciting? The reason is that it represents China's "zero breakthrough" in the manufacturing of domestic large cruise ships.

Maybe some of you are wondering, there are many cruise ships in China, why is it so difficult to build large cruise ships?

You should know that currently there are only five countries in the world that have the ability to build large cruise ships, namely Germany, France, Italy, Finland and China. It can be said that the difficulty of manufacturing large cruise ships is no less than that of aircraft carriers.

2Why is it said that large cruise ships are more difficult to build than aircraft carriers?

For hundreds of years, Chinese shipbuilders have continuously improved their shipbuilding technology, but have never been able to conquer high-tech, high-value-added ship products such as large cruise ships, simply because the design and construction of this type of ship is very difficult, and is a highly intensive and complex systematic project.

The construction of large cruise ships is different from that of aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers are a kind of weapon and the focus of their construction is on the strength of their equipment, while large cruise ships are a kind of commodity and must not only meet transportation needs but also consider a variety of capabilities such as styling design, internal catering and accommodation services, and cultural and entertainment service provision.

Source of the internal environment of "Aida·Modu"丨SWS Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Video

First of all, in terms of design, the interior space of a cruise ship is very complex, with numerous facilities and application requirements. For example, how should the space be arranged so that thousands of people can live? How should the corridors and elevators be designed to be more reasonable and save space? How should the leisure area in the cruise ship be set up to give passengers a more comfortable experience? How can the internal space layout design be more artistic and make the overall style more harmonious and unified...

In addition, the interior of a large cruise ship also needs to consider noise reduction, ventilation, circuit laying, fire safety and other settings. For example, the entire cruise ship consumes a huge amount of electricity. When it is fully loaded, the daily power generation can provide electricity for about 5,000 households for a month. So how should these cables and pipelines be arranged to ensure the continuous operation of the equipment? If there is a fire or water intrusion, how can thousands of people escape quickly at the first time... etc. These all need to be carefully considered and fully arranged in the early design.

"Aida·Modu" power generation area source丨SWS Waigaoqiao Shipyard video number

Secondly, in terms of construction, large cruise ships require a large number of supply chain supporting services related to parts and equipment. For example, the "Aida Magic City" involves more than 4,000 domestic and foreign suppliers and more than 20,000 sets of hardware equipment. The communication requirements are large and the construction cycle is long. It is very difficult to maintain close coordination among all links.

Third, in terms of styling and decoration, the decoration business of large cruise ships is also very large. In addition to the selection of furniture, lamps, green plants, artworks, etc., the overall layout and material performance also need to be considered.

Weapons like aircraft carriers do not need gorgeous interiors, but large cruise ships are passenger-oriented ships, so their services are not only reflected in hardware equipment, but also in the space environment. A cruise ship that is both practical and artistic can attract customers to a greater extent.

Generally speaking, a large cruise ship is a comprehensive commercial project that integrates "ship + hotel services + entertainment services", and its economic and time costs are huge. Therefore, China's successful construction of the "Aida Modu" can be said to be a major breakthrough in the shipbuilding industry.

3 Overview of the core technologies of “Aida·Modu”

In October 2013, my country officially launched a large-scale cruise ship construction project, imported a total of 150,000 pages of cruise ship-related design drawings and construction documents from abroad, and officially began to learn the shipbuilding technology of European shipyards.

To date, China has not only successfully built large cruise ships, but has also independently completed a number of core technologies, mainly including three: weight control, vibration and noise reduction, and safe return to port.

"Aida·Modu" Source: SWS Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding

The first is weight control, which is the key to the construction of the "Aida·Modu". The weight requirements of the "Aida·Modu" are very strict, and the weight error of the cruise ship cannot exceed one percent. Therefore, in order to better improve the passenger experience, more decorations and entertainment facilities have been added, and the shipyard needs to think about how to reduce the weight of the hull.

Generally speaking, conventional hulls use steel plates with an average thickness of 20mm. However , when building the "Aida Modu", a large number of thin steel plates with a thickness of only 4-8mm were used, which greatly reduced the weight.

At the same time, thin plates are more delicate when welded. If deformation occurs during welding, more cement and resin materials will be needed to fill it, which will increase the weight of the ship. Therefore, the team uses intelligent means and automated control to reduce welding errors and avoid deformation, which not only improves work efficiency (for example, laser welding efficiency is five times higher than before, and the number of personnel required is reduced by 70%), but also reduces the weight of the hull to a greater extent.

"Aida·Modu" thin plate production center Source丨SWS Waigaoqiao Shipyard Video Number

Source of thin plate proportion of "Aida·Modu"丨SWS Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Video

The second is vibration and noise reduction. Cruise ships are easily shaken by wind and waves when sailing on the sea, which produces vibration and noise. In addition, there are many internal equipment on the cruise ship, especially in the engine room, which is prone to noise pollution. In order to reduce vibration and noise and bring passengers a good riding experience, all mechanical equipment with vibration on the "Aida Magic City" is treated with vibration reduction, such as reducing the ventilation area of ​​the pipes and adding damping materials.

More than 1,400 monitoring points have been set up inside the cruise ship to detect noise pollution in real time. A large amount of sound insulation material has been laid on the bulkheads, and elastic bases have been installed at the joints between the steel structure enclosures and structural parts of the ceiling and wall panels. Screw buffering is used to reduce friction noise between metals.

"Aida Magic City" Source: Xinhua News Agency

The third is to return to the port safely. A large cruise ship can accommodate thousands of people at the same time. Once a danger occurs, how to escape smoothly and return to the port safely is also a very important issue.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires that contracting parties ensure that the number of lifeboat seats on passenger ships is equal to the number of passengers. The "Aida·Modu" has 20 extra-large lifeboats hanging on both sides of the hull, each with a capacity of 314 people, with a total capacity of 6,280 people, enough to accommodate all the passengers of the "Aida·Modu".

The lifeboat also stores emergency supplies such as flares, compressed biscuits, drinking water cabinets, etc., which can meet the needs of all passengers during the rescue process.

Yellow lifeboat Source: Xinhua News Agency

Yellow lifeboat source丨SWS Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding

The ship also has backups of oil, water, gas and other resources, and has tested a variety of escape system solutions in extreme environments such as fire and water ingress, to ensure that when one system fails, other systems can also operate normally, so that no matter what happens, the cruise ship can return to the port safely and ensure the safety of passengers' lives and property.

The successful construction and independent operation of "Aida Magic City" fully demonstrated my country's scientific and technological level and manufacturing capabilities, and also marked that my country's cruise industry has entered a development model of the entire industrial chain.

It is not difficult to go from 1 to 10, but it is more difficult to go from 0 to 1. With the successful development of "Aida·Modu", what kind of breakthroughs and achievements will my country's shipbuilding industry have in the future? Let us wait and see.