From gCaptain, January 28:
Royal Caribbean has taken delivery of the Wonder of the Seas from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France.
At 236,857 gross registered tonnes (grt), the ship is biggest cruise ship ever built. It is the fifth installment in Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class, which kicked off in 2009 with the Oasis of the Seas. The other four ships in the class come in at 225,000 grt to over 228,000 grt.
With its delivery, Wonder takes the “world’s largest” crown from sister ship Symphony of the Seas, at 228,081 grt.
Wonder of the Seas measures 1,188 feet in length and 210 feet wide. Passenger capacity comes in at 6,988 guests with an additional 2,300 crew.
Wonder of the Seas will make its official debut in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in March, starting with 7-night cruises to the Caribbean before heading to Barcelona, Spain and later Rome to offer summer cruises in the Mediterranean....
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French Shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique Nabs a Big Order
From LNG World News:
Chantiers de l’Atlantique bags MSC Cruises LNG pair
MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have signed firm contracts for the construction of third and fourth LNG-powered MSC World Class ships.
The vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2027, Chantiers de l’Atlantique said in its statement.Previously:
The first of the initial two ships in the class is currently under construction at Chantiers’ shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and is due to enter service in 2022. With 205,000 GT, she will become the biggest vessel operated by a European cruise line as well as the first LNG-powered cruise ship built in France.
These contracts represent a capital investment by MSC Cruises exceeding €2 billion ($2.2 billion).
The two companies have also extended their partnership over the next decade with two additional newbuild projects....MORE
November 2019
Shipping: Two Approaches To NextGen Power: Maersk Goes With Batteries In a Box;
Chantiers de l'Atlantique and MSC Cruises Trial LNG Fuel Cells
...And speaking of big, the Saint-Nazaire yard built four of these suckers, second only to the 657,019 DWT Happy Giant as the largest ultra-super-mega tankers. Batillus was the lead ship of the class:
