French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique has held a keel-laying ceremony for an LNG-powered cruise vessel it is building for US-based Royal Caribbean International.
The event held on July 1 celebrated the official start of Utopia of the Seas’ physical construction ahead of the ship’s introduction in spring 2024, Royal Caribbean International, a unit of Royal Caribbean, said in a statement.
At the ceremony, Royal Caribbean International’s officials placed newly minted coins in the ship’s first 948-ton (860 metric tons) steel block.
This follows the steel-cutting ceremony for the Oasis Class vessel that took place in the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire on April 5.
This is the first out of six Oasis Class ships that will feature LNG propulsion. It will have a total power installed in the ship of more than 90 MW using 6 engines.
By introducing the first LNG-powered Oasis Class ship, the cruise line said it took yet another step toward a “clean-energy future” after its first LNG ship, Icon of the Seas, which debuts in fall 2023.