Seventy percent of a cruise ship’s superstructure can be constructed using aluminum.

As living standards continue to rise, an increasing number of people are choosing to travel abroad. China boasts an exceptionally rich aquatic landscape: it has a coastline stretching over 10,000 kilometers, encompassing the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea; it is home to two major islands—Taiwan and Hainan—as well as thousands of smaller ones. Within its borders lie numerous navigable rivers, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Heilongjiang, and Songhua Rivers, along with hundreds of waterways such as the Yalu River, the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Pearl River, the Mekong River, the Huai River, the Xiang River, the Gan River, the Qiantang River, the Min River, and the Jialing River. Moreover, dozens of lakes—including Poyang Lake, Hongze Lake, Dongting Lake, and Honghu Lake—serve as premier destinations for water-based tourism. Consequently, cruise travel is poised to become a star product with vast potential.

Aluminum is an excellent material for constructing cruise ship superstructures and various structural components. Its superstructure and ancillary facilities include guardrails, bulkheads, flooring (equipped with textured anti-slip panels), ladders, furniture, household items, kitchenware, fire doors, and more. Using aluminum alloys for cruise ship superstructure elements offers the following advantages: under comparable performance conditions, aluminum structures and their components weigh approximately 40% to 45% less than steel counterparts; they maintain a clean, hygienic appearance with bright, enduring coloration, requiring no maintenance over their service life—whereas steel structures must be maintained every three to five years, or else they are prone to rust, which not only detracts from their aesthetic appeal but may also lead to minor accidents or adverse consequences; perhaps most notably, although aluminum is not a direct fire‑resistant material, it contributes positively to fire safety: during combustion, it absorbs substantial heat and melts steadily, helping to slow the spread of flames; moreover, unlike magnesium—which burns violently in the presence of open flame and is therefore unsuitable for use in cruise ship applications—aluminum poses no such risk. Furthermore, at the end of a vessel’s service life, aluminum structures can be fully recycled, with mechanical losses kept below 5%, and scrap aluminum fetches roughly 80% of the prevailing price of primary aluminum ingots. Aluminum also exhibits outstanding corrosion resistance in both fresh and seawater, making it naturally well suited for cruise ship construction; at the same time, its price is reasonable and moderate, ensuring strong market competitiveness.

With the introduction of the “dual carbon” goals, the energy sources used by cruise ships will undoubtedly shift toward new‑energy technologies, with all‑electric cruise ships emerging as a key development direction. River and lake vessels can already achieve all‑electric propulsion, and near‑shore cruises are also expected to adopt pure electric drive; however, large transoceanic cruise ships currently remain difficult to power entirely by electricity. China’s largest domestically designed and built all‑electric cruise ship, the “Yangtze Three Gorges No. 1,” entered passenger service on March 29 this year. The vessel measures 100 meters in length, 16.3 meters in beam, and 4 meters in depth, with a capacity of 1,300 passengers. The project was jointly funded by Hubei Three Gorges Tourism Group, a subsidiary of Yichang Urban Development Group, and Yangtze Power, a company under the Three Gorges Group, and constructed by the Xinhui Shipyard in Zhijiang, Yichang. This all‑electric cruise ship, which boasts the highest deadweight and the most advanced level of智能化, required a total R&D and construction investment of approximately RMB 150 million.

The Yangtze River Three Gorges No. 1 cruise ship is equipped with marine‑grade lithium‑ion batteries totaling 7,500 kWh—enough to match the combined battery capacity of 100 all‑electric vehicles—and can travel up to 100 kilometers on a single charge. Annually, it replaces 530 tons of fossil fuel and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,600 tons. Moreover, it is the world’s first electric vessel to employ a high‑voltage charging, low‑voltage power supply system, effectively overcoming longstanding challenges and bottlenecks associated with high‑power shore‑based charging infrastructure. The Yangtze River Three Gorges No. 1 is a cutting‑edge maritime research project under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and a pilot initiative of the Ministry of Transport’s “Strong Transportation” program, significantly accelerating the development of clean energy and green, low‑carbon transportation.

China is a global powerhouse in both the aluminum industry and the aluminum processing sector. In 2021, China’s production capacity for aluminum fabricated products and deep‑processed aluminum goods accounted for approximately 70% of the world’s total. All relevant materials can be manufactured domestically. Aluminum alloys of the 5XXX and 6XXX series are suitable for fabricating superstructures and ancillary facilities on cruise ships and passenger vessels.