Shanghai-listed Beibu Gulf Tourism, also known as BeibuWan Tourism, is scouting shipyards to build cruiseships for the Chinese market.

Shipbuilding insiders in China say that the company wants to start with a 35,000-gt vessel capable of hosting 1,000 passengers.

Beibu has teamed up with Shanghai ZhaoXiang Cruise Technology Group, which specialises in undertaking refitting and refurbishment projects on Chinese-owned cruiseships at local yards. Prior work involved the 47,700-gt Henna (built 1986) for HNA Group, and most recently, the conversion of the 24,800-gt Celestyal Odyssey (built 2001) into Diamond Cruise International’s Glory Sea.

ZhaoXiang will take the lead role in building the new ship — from design to interior outfitting. It has already formed a team and visited a few cruiseship companies overseas for study and TradeWinds understands it will enlist the help of foreign cruiseship construction specialists to assist with the project.

While no contract has been signed, and no yard shortlisted, there are strong indications the orders may be placed with shiprepair yard Huarun Dadong Dockyard, which is partially owned by shipbuilding giant Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.

While Huarun Dadong does not ordinarily build ships, it has gained experience refitting cruiseships belonging to domestic and foreign operators, including Costa. In January next year Costa will send the 114,000-gt Costa Serena (built 2007) to the yard for a 10-day refurbishment.

If the Beibu order goes ahead it will be a major coup for China’s ambitions to become a cruiseship builder. The country has built some ropax ferries in the past for the domestic and international markets, and while some foreign cruise lines, such as Carnival, have expressed interest in building ships in China, concrete orders have yet to emerge.

Cruise industry sources say that cruise lines are still somewhat sceptical about China’s ability to build sophisticated ships and deliver them on time.

Building a cruiseship would severely test the abilities of Chinese yards that, although well-versed in building tankers, bulkers and boxships, have no experience with the internal outfit of cruiseships, which can form as much as 70% of the cost and workload of a cruise newbuilding.

Beibu, a tourism and ferry company, plans to operate its new ship between ports in Southern China and Southeast Asia.

The firm was briefly engaged in the cruise trade in the early part of this decade when it operated several small, older cruiseships on short voyages between China and Vietnam. It exited the market after political tensions between the countries brought the cruises to an abrupt halt.