The first of approximately 60 blocks of the new cruise vessel "Radiance of the Seas" for Royal Caribbean International (RCI) was lifted into position in the covered building dock of the Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg/Germany (September 1999).

In the presence of the yard´s managing owner Bernard Meyer and director Jochen Zerrahn RCI´s site office manager Captain Kent Ringborn laid the "lucky penny" before the first block of the new ship was lowered down onto the keel blocks by the yard´s 600-ton crane. The block had a weight of almost 600 tons, a length of 20 metres, a breadth of 32.2 metres and an approximate height of 8 metres.

The "Radiance of the Seas" is the first of two luxury liners to be built for the new customer RCI. The vessel will have a length overall of 293 metres, develop a speed of more than 24 knots and will be capable of carrying 2500 passengers in 1051 cabins. The ships will set new technical standards: They will be fitted with two podded drives of 360° efficiency comparable to an outboard motor. The propellers will be directly driven by electric motors installed in a pod under the ship´s hull.

Two environmentally friendly gas turbines and one steam turbine will supply the vessel with energy for the propulsion and hotel operation. Due to the special combustion process the nitrogen oxide content of the exhaust gases from the gas-oil operated turbines is very low. Furthermore the exhaust gases from the gas turbines generate steam in the exhaust gas boilers which is then transformed into energy by the steam turbine. Delivery of the first vessel is scheduled to take place early in 2001, the second vessel is due for delivery in the second half of 2002.

More information: Meyer Werft