Production of Icon of the Seas began at Meyer Turku shipyard
On Monday 14th, Meyer Turku started the production of the Icon of the Seas, a ship to be built for Royal Caribbean International. Meyer Turku says the start of production and the revealing of the ship’s name were celebrated in a corona-safe manner at the shipyard's plate hall. Meyer Turku CEO Tim Meyer, Chairman of the Board of Meyer Turku , Bernard Meyer, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, Richard Fain, and Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President of Maritime&Newbuilds, were present. CEO and president of Royal Caribbean International, Michael Bayley, attended the event remotely.
“We made our commitment to making clean power at sea a reality – and soon the norm – when Icon Class was first announced in 2016, and we’re excited to see construction underway on what will truly be a ship unlike any other,” said Michael Bayley.
For Meyer Turku, Icon 1 is both a challenge and a great opportunity to rise to the bright top of shipbuilding.
“We have eagerly accepted this challenge. Now that ship production in our halls has begun, we are beginning to see the results of our design take physical form. This is always a solemn moment for us shipbuilders”, CEO Tim Meyer says.
When completed in 2023, Icon of the Seas will be an advanced cruise ship with special focus on environmental technologies. The ship will, for example, have air lubrication of underwater hull, sending millions of microscopic bubbles along the hull of the ship to reduce friction and advanced waste heat recovery system to turn waste heat into up to 3MW extra energy.
“We look forward to revealing more of the game-changing features our guests and crew have in store as she begins to take shape”, CEO Michael Bayley concluded.