INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS |
Third ship in series of largest
cruise ships delivery this week
INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS...
The third in the series of the world's largest cruise vessels for
Royal Caribbean was presented Thursday April 10. for the media in Aker
Yards, Turku.
The "Independence of the Seas" has all of the signature elements of
her sister ships "Freedom of the Seas" and "Liberty of the Seas",
making the Freedom-class ships the most innovative and forward-looking
class of ships in the cruise industry for the time being, says Aker
Yards.
The vessel to be delivered next week is like a small city with lots of
service: many restaurants, theatres, cafés, shopping mall, hospital,
hair dressers' and bakers'......Already the mindset behind the
vessel's name is in giving the the passengers the independence to
create their own unique adventure by choosing multiple onboard options
- from rock climbing, surfing or ice skating to spa treatments, fine
dining or world-class entertainment.
"Independence of the Seas is an evidence of that Aker Yards is
continuously delivering [on] schedule large cruise vessels which are
state-of-the-art regarding both design and functionality", says Juha
Heikinheimo, President of Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries.
"I feel certain that this vessel will again offer passengers
unprecedented experiences and outstanding satisfaction to her owners",
he continues.
In addition to the innovative comfort amenities there is lots of
technical improvement onboard the Independence, e.g. advanced water
purification: The state-of-the-art AWP-plant purifies all of the
ship's grey and black waters into a degree of being virtually pure
drinking water. The separated sludge will be consequently dried and
incinerated with other combustible waste. All other waste material
generated on board will be landed in ports and nothing - except for
that fully purified drain water - will be released into the sea.
The vessel is 339 metres long, 38.6 metres wide, and takes 4375
passengers and 1365 crew. It has diesel-electric propulsion. In order
to ensure a best possible fuel economy and subsequently
environmentally friendly operation a series of different hydrodynamic
improvements including a new ducktail design were carefully studied
and taken into use.
The signed contracts of Aker Yard's business area Cruise & Ferries are
today worth approximately 6.5 billion EUR including 8 cruise vessels
for three out of the four leading multibrand cruise companies: three
for Royal Caribbean, three for MSC and two for NCL. The 10 ferries in
the orderbook are two "superferries" for Stena, a fast day ferry for
Color Line, two cruise ferries for Tallink, a fast ferry for Viking, a
passenger ferry for Brittany Ferries and three LNG ferries for Tide
Sjo.
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