Line's latest newbuild christened by former Olympic swimmer Franziska van Almsick in Germany
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Former Olympic swimmer Franziska van Almsick christened TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4 during a ceremony at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal in Kiel, Germany, on 5 June.
At 9pm, van Almsick was hoisted above the foreship wearing a 15-metre-long christening robe that weighed 300kg and had a diameter of 20m, before she smashed the bottle against the ship’s side.
The naming ceremony was broadcast in the main theatre for around 1,000 guests who also enjoyed musical performances from various singers.
Around 25,000 spectators also watched the ceremony, which began in the afternoon and ended with a late-night fireworks display accompanied by an electro and house set from internationally renowned DJ Tanja La Croix.
Mein Schiff 4, which was built by Meyer Turku and is the first TUI ship to be named in Kiel, departed the port on 6 June to set off on her maiden roundtrip calling at various ports in the Baltic Sea including Tallinn, Estonia; St Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Stockholm, Sweden. From 14-18 June, the 995,000gt newbuild will then sail another short cruise from Kiel to the Norwegian port of Oslo and the Danish port of Copenhagen.
In summer 2015, Mein Schiff 4 will offer a variety of Baltic Sea itineraries, which also include port calls in Northern Europe and Norway, before embarking on seven-day voyages to the Canary Islands, Morocco and Maderia during the winter cruise season.