The Cooperation between Italy and China in the cruise shipbuilding industry: strategies and trends

Abstract

The cruise sector is experiencing an unprecedent growth, as shown by the increasing demand for cruises from East Asia markets, especially from China. The increasing complexity of market needs, both from a functional (comfort, design, facilities) as well as from an emotional point of view, is giving rise to a differentiated demand which is not just a simple challenge that need to be addressed by the major cruise shipyards who want to compete at world level. Traditionally, Europe has always dominated the shipbuilding market; this said, in recent years, it has given way to the expansion of Far East-based shipyards such as China, South Korea and Japan. This switch has been made possible thanks to favourable manufacturing costs, low labour costs and government financial support. In this thesis, my primary aim is to investigate how Italy can cooperate with Chinese shipyards in the cruise shipbuilding sector; I also put forward some forecasts about future trends backed by consistent data and information emerged from the interview I had with Fincantieri S.p.a. After an overview of the Italian and Chinese cruise shipbuilding markets and their changes over times, I shift my focus on the cooperation between Fincantieri, the major Italian shipbuilding player, and the Chinese shipyard CSSC. These two companies have signed a Joint Venture agreement that has boosted the development of the Baoshan cruise park. This is a new project that aims to create a new cruise park for the boarding and landing of passengers. It also includes an area dedicated to cruise ship construction and refitting, where the Italian know-how and refined design can perfectly match with the Chinese skilled workforce. In conclusion, I analyse the development of Fincantieri in Italy and in China, their business model and the mass customization project they are carrying out in order to meet the different needs of a multifaceted clientele.