Finnish shipbuilding company Meyer Turku has started the hull assembly of the methanol-ready Mein Schiff 7, being built for TUI Cruises.
Mein Schiff 7’s keel laying ceremony was celebrated on March 21, as the crane lowered the ship’s first steel block to the bottom of the dry dock. As is tradition, lucky coins were placed under the block to bring good fortune upon the ship.
“We are very happy that the first block of the ship was laid as planned and we look forward to the other milestones ahead of us. With the laying of the keel, the first quarter of the construction work has been completed. From ship to ship, in cooperation with TUI Cruises, onboard features have been developed from the perspective of both passengers and sustainable development,” says Tim Meyer , CEO of Meyer Turku. “Mein Schiff 7 will use low-emission marine diesel oil (sulphur content: 0.1%) and will be equipped with catalysts (which reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide by about 75 percent) and with shore power connection. In addition, the ship will be built in such a way that it can run on methanol and in the future on green methanol, which makes the use of the ship almost carbon neutral,” says Wybcke Meier , CEO of TUI Cruises.
Similar to the structurally identical Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 delivered in 2018 and 2019, respectively, the new vessel will have a length of 315 meters and a width of 36 meters. It will be able to accommodate around 2,849 passengers. In addition to this, the ship’s operations in the port will be almost emission-free.
The cruise ship will be classed by DNV and it is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
Mein Schiff 7 is an important milestone in the company’s efforts to provide the first climate-neutral cruises by 2030. TUI plans to grow the Mein Schiff fleet to nine ships by 2026.
To remind, the company has also signed a contract with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to build two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered ships.