By
Rebecca Gibson |
Meyer Weft has cut the steel for P&O Cruises’ first-ever LNG-powered cruise ship at its yard in Papenburg, Germany.
The steel-cutting ceremony was attended by P&O Cruises’ senior vice president Paul Ludlow; Carnival UK president Josh Weinstein; and Tim Werft, managing director of Meyer Werft.
“This is the first time in 20 years that P&O Cruises has had a ship built by Meyer Werft and I’d like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to get us to the first stage in the life of this ground-breaking vessel,” said Weinstein. “Meyer Werft has an enviable track record of producing genuinely innovative ships which also deliver tremendous levels of operational efficiency and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership over the next couple of years to this ship’s completion in 2020 and beyond.”
Scheduled for delivery in 2020, the 5,200-guest newbuild will be the largest cruise ship to be built specifically for the British market. She will also be the first of two LNG-powered ships to join the P&O Cruises fleet. Her sister will be delivered in 2022.
“Our new ship will be the largest ship ever operated by the brand and the largest ever to be dedicated exclusively to the UK cruise industry,” said Ludlow. “It will also be the first ship in our market to be powered by LNG, the most environmentally friendly power source yet for large-scale cruise ships. With UK passenger numbers set to top two million for the first time this year, we are confident in cruising’s future and believe that there will be an exceptionally positive UK response to this ship and the innovations it will bring. We also expect this ship to persuade many UK consumers to take that all-important first cruise.”
P&O Cruises will reveal the name of the new ship on its Facebook page on 24 May at 4pm UK time. The name was chosen from a list of more than 30,000 suggestions from members of the public who entered a competition last year.
Watch a video of the steel-cutting ceremony here.