A cruise with about 1,200 passengers on board departs from Nansha International Cruise Home Port in Guangzhou on Nov 17. [Photo by Fu Chaojun/southcn.com]

A cruise ship with about 1,200 passengers on board departed from Nansha International Cruise Home Port in Guangzhou on Nov 17, marking the official operation of the largest international cruise home port complex in China.

Located in the Nansha area of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the port was designed to cover a planned coast line of 1,600 meters, as well as build two cruise berths of 100,000 metric tons and 225,000 tons respectively.

The first phase of the port started construction in July 2017, covering a coast line of 770 meters. It has built one berth of 100,000 tons, one berth of 225,000 tons, as well as a terminal with a building area of about 60,000 square meters.

Currently, the port is able to berth the largest cruise ship in the world, and its designed annual passenger capacity is 750,000. After the operation of the second phase, the port will be a water passenger transportation hub in Guangzhou with an annual passenger capacity of no less than 1.5 million.

Passengers pose for a photo to mark the opening of Nansha International Cruise Home Port. [Photo by Fu Chaojun/southcn.com]

The port is the first of its kind in China being connected by metro line, as its terminal is linked with a station on Guangzhou Metro Line 4 by a 500 meter underground passage.

It is equipped with commercial facilities of about 500,000 square meters in the building area, such as an international shipping center and a seafarer's center.

The lobby on the first floor of the port has set up 80 ticket counters, 30 exit channels, as well as 32 entry channels, ranking first in the country in terms of channel number. High-tech applications and advanced information methods like facial recognition and a cruise control system have been applied to rapidly improve customs clearance efficiency.

Nansha International Cruise Home Port possesses the most shipping routes to Southeast Asia in the Chinese mainland as it has opened nine routes to 12 destinations like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan.

The port has signed a framework agreement with Italian cruise liner Costa Cruises and Genting Group in deepening cooperation in the cruise industry, offering more cruise products for people in the Pearl River Delta.