(Yicai) Feb. 29 -- China’s second self-developed mega cruise ship will be delivered by the end of 2026, shaving one fifth off the construction time of the first such vessel, the Adora Magic City, that took its maiden commercial voyage last month, The Paper reported.

Costing CNY5.5 billion (USD770 million), the second large cruise ship is being built by China State Shipbuilding Corp. and construction kicked off in Shanghai in August 2022.

The second vessel will be more powerful than the first one with a tonnage of 142,000 tons, compared with 130,000 tons, the report said. It will also be longer with a length of 341 meters, as opposed to 324 meters, and 37.2 meters wide. It will house 2,144 luxury cabins and will have a richer array of facilities than the Adora Magic City.

The second vessel will source more local suppliers for basic equipment, decorative materials and furniture, in order to boost profitability, said Chen Jianwei, assistant general manager and director for large cruise ship construction at Beijing-based CSSC.

CSSC linked arms with Italy’s Fincantieri, the world’s largest cruise ship builder, in 2016 to set up a cruise ship design and construction company. CSSC owns 60 percent and Trieste-based Fincantieri the remainder to kick start cruise ship manufacturing in the country.

The Adora Magic City embarked on its inaugural commercial voyage on Jan. 1 and operates the Shanghai-Jeju-Nagasaki-Fukuoka-Shanghai route.

Editor: Kim Taylor