Nation begins assembling first large cruise ship

Assembly began on China's first large, domestically made cruise ship on Tuesday, China State Shipbuilding Corp, the construction contractor, said.

A ceremony was held at the vessel's shipyard at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding to mark the beginning of the assembly work, CSSC, a State-owned conglomerate and the world's largest shipbuilder, said in a statement.

Construction of the Vista-class cruise ship, which has yet to be named, is expected to be finished in the first half of 2023, the company said.

CSSC signed a cooperation agreement on the design and construction of two 135,500-metric ton Vista-class cruise ships with Carnival Corp and Fincantieri in November 2018.

Carnival, a British-American cruise operator, is the world's largest leisure travel company, while Fincantieri, an Italian company, is one of the world's largest cruise ship makers.

According to the agreement, CSSC will work with Fincantieri to design the ships, which will be built based on the Chinese market's requirements and Chinese tourists' needs.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding will construct the ships and then deliver them to a joint venture between CSSC and Carnival that will be tasked with operating the vessels to serve the Chinese tourism market.