Historic Cruise Ship Float Out in Finland

Posted by Greg Trauthwein October 10, 2014

Image: http://www.meyerturku.com

The Meyer Turku Oy yard in Turku, Finland, celebrated a historical day on October 10, 2014.

Meyer Turku Oy, which officially changed ownership only three weeks earlier with the takeover by Papenburg, Germany cruise ship building power Meyer Werft, floated out the cruise ship Mein Schiff 4.

Jan Meyer, the CEO of Meyer Turku Oy, and Wybcke Meier, the new CEO of TUI Cruises opened the valves to flood the dry dock.

In May 2013, about 17 months ago, Turku shipyard celebrated the keel-laying of Mein Schiff 3 and start of production of Mein Schiff 4. Mein Schiff 4 will be handed over to the customer in spring 2015. During the summer of 2015, Mein Schiff 4 will travel on a variety of routes in the Baltic Sea to the Baltic states and in northern Europe around Norway. During the winter, the ship will embark on seven-day voyages to the Canary Islands, taking in Morocco or Madeira. The production of the next ship of the series, Mein Schiff 5, will begin in November 2014, and that of Mein Schiff 6 one year later.

“This day is special in many ways. We have the opportunity to witness the float-out of the first new-build of Meyer Turku. I am very pleased that Mein Schiff 4 is right on schedule. It is good to continue from here and proceed to outfitting and commissioning phases,” says Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku Oy.

“As my first official act in my new role at TUI Cruises, setting a well-being ship afloat is a fantastic beginning,” noted Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises.

The technically highly advanced, innovative and environmentally friendly 99,500-GT cruise ships are approximately 294 metres long and some 36 metres wide. They have approximately 1,250 cabins (2,500 lower beds) and a crew of 1,000. Special attention has been paid to environmental friendliness and energy efficiency of the ships. Each vessel in the series of ships brings approximately 5,000 person-years of labour to Meyer Turku shipyard and a significant amount of labour for the Finnish maritime industry network as well. The domestic content of these ships is approximately 80%.