By
Rebecca Gibson |
TUI Cruises announced on 5 November that it had confirmed the order of a second cruise ship from STX Finland’s Turku shipyard.
The announcement was delivered by Richard Vogel, CEO of TUI Cruises, during a traditional steel-cutting ceremony marking the start of construction of the first ship, Mein Schiff 3, which is scheduled for delivery in spring 2014.
"After being just four years in the business and after successfully putting two ships on the market – Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 – we are proud to proceed with building our first new ship and that way continue the growth of our fleet," said Vogel.
Construction of the sister ship of Mein Schiff 3 will begin in summer 2013 and the vessel is expected to be delivered from the Turku shipyard in spring 2015. At approximately 295 metres long and 36 metres wide, the design of the 99,300gt ship will parallel that of Mein Schiff 3 and provide 1,250 staterooms for 2,500 passengers. The vessel will also be energy efficient and incorporate many environmentally friendly features.
"We are extremely pleased TUI Cruises confirmed the order of the sister ship for the magnificent Mein Schiff 3 cruise ship,” remarked Jari Anttila, EVP and COO of STX Finland. “We have today reached this milestone start of production of the first ship, a well performed and intensive basic design phase. After this production start, manning on this project will increase significantly during the coming months to reach the maximum level before summer next year."
Together, the construction of the two vessels will provide approximately 11,000 man-years of labour at the shipyard.