Wenzhou private money buys world's only 6-star catamaran

(Ecns.cn)—The world's only six-star catamaran, worth 65 million US dollars, was purchased last year by a private company from East China's economic powerhouse in Zhejiang Province, the city of Wenzhou. It will depart Hong Kong on its maiden voyage on March 8, according to a Thursday report from the Hangzhou Daily.

The luxury cruiser "Chinese Star," with a length of 131.2m and a width of 32m, can accommodate over 400 people. Insiders from a large domestic shipyard remarked that to build such a classic ocean yacht is currently beyond China's capacity, thus only river cruises are available on the domestic market. Seaworthiness establishes the tremendous commercial value of the vessel.

Huang Weijian, a businessman who initiated the purchase through a registered  company in Hong Kong with some other partners from Wenzhou, introduced his money-making plan for 'Chinese Star' to the media.

It has been decorated and outfitted to Chinese tastes and expectations, with special services such as traditional tea and fresh pastries. Starting in May, the cruiser will take sightseeing tours with multiple combinations of itineraries from China's coastal cities to other Asian destinations and each passenger will be charged at least 1,185 yuan (US$118) to get aboard.

It will later allow activities like television shows to be shot here and beauty contests to be staged, Huang revealed. He provided no specific information about planned net profits for this year.

Huang has a nose for commerce and among his profile-enhancing roles is the directorship of the Wenzhou Private Capital Investment Service Center. He expected this purchase would open new channels for investment as soon as he heard the news that the world's only six-star catamaran was for sale. The opportunity came precisely when the whole private sector in Wenzhou was mired in a cash flow rupture.

The 'Chinese Star' remains the only ocean passenger liner owned by a Chinese private firm, but neither Huang nor his partners feel satisfied with the situation.

Earlier last year, the firm- Chinese Cruise Limited Company- kicked off the financing program with a target of 2 billion yuan (US$ 317.8 million) in the Hong Kong stock market, for the purchase of 4 to 5 more such yachts. Most of the funds are expected to come from the private sector in Zhejiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Huang even plans to put forward a 3,000-word proposal to foster Wenzhou as 'the harbor for cruisers' to the annual two sessions- annual meetings of the legislative body and political advisory group- held in Beijing from early to mid-March.