STX Europe’s Super Luxury Cruiser

STX affiliate shipyard delivers the Oasis of the Seas to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

STX Europe, formerly Akers Yards, taken over by STX Group, has delivered a super-sized passenger cruiser, the Oasis of the Seas, in a ceremony held on Oct. 28 at its shipyard in Turku, Finland, to the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), the group announced on Oct. 29.
On hand at the dockside ceremony included Chairman Kang Duk-soo of the STX Group, Chairman Richard Fain of the RCCL, President Martin Landtman of STX Finland and others.
The new cruiser, 360 meters in length, was delivered to its owner at a price of 1.013 billion euro. She has rooms for 8,500 passengers and 2,100 crewmembers and is likened to a floating city in the ocean with all kinds of sports, gaming and leisure facilities on board.



















She has a 100-meter-long park inside called Central Park and 2,700 cabins, 75 percent of which have verandas. As soon as the new cruiser reaches Miami, Florida, some 2,200 tropical trees will be planted in Central Park. Cabins with views of the park will be priced higher than those with verandas overlooking the sea.
Other amenities on board the cruiser include a water spring theater, Aqua Theater, an ice skating rink, a large theater with seats for 1,400 people and a large dining room with tables for 3,100 guests to make the passengers on board feel as if they are in the downtown of a large city.
The Oasis of the Seas is scheduled to make its maiden voyage through the Caribbean and the cruise has been fully booked since December last year through RCCL’s office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
President Shin Sang-ho of STX Europe said the Oasis of the Seas has been built with all kinds of up-to-date shipbuilding technologies including new design technologies that the company will show to the world as the cruiser sails the oceans in the days to come.
The shipyard, which changed its name to STX Europe in November of last year, is currently engaged in building cruisers of all sizes at its five shipyards in France and Finland, Shin said. The company has 16 shipyards in Europe. The Allure of the Seas, similar to the Oasis of the Seas in scale, is being built at the Turku shipyard in Finland and is scheduled for delivery in November 2010 to RCCL.
The cruiser industry has been growing rapidly in recent years thanks to the aging population, expanding the market for sea cruise tourism. The economic effects from cruiser tourism have been rising sharply for the past several years from $10.7 billion in 2005 to $150 billion projected in 2010.
Richard Fain, the chief executive of Royal Caribbean, told reporters the new ship had attracted strong pre-bookings despite the global financial crisis and said the aim was to lure new customers who have not cruised before.
There are, however, still spots left for the ship’s maiden voyage in December.
“We like to deliver the vow, and I think it’s fair to say that this ship delivers the vow,” he said.
“Part of the thought process of the ship is to overcome the old myths people have about cruising. It’s very hard to look at a vessel like this and think that cruising is secondary when you can choose rock-climbing, surfing or zip-lining,” Fain explained.
He added that the company was targeting international clients with Oasis of the Seas, not just Americans or Europeans, which will be sailing mainly in the sunny Caribbean.
It’s also catering to younger, more active passengers with children, and is therefore offering a wider selection of activities, including 21 swimming pools, an aqua park, a carousel and a science lab.
“This is a very important day for us. We are extremely happy and proud,” Martin Landtman, the head of STX’s Finnish shipyards said.
Hundreds of builders and cleaners were still putting the final touches on the ship, installing carpets and cleaning the surfaces of the ship, docked at the Turku shipyard some 165 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Helsinki.
Although the shipyard employees are still busy working on Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship Allure of the Seas, which is to be ready in autumn 2010, Fain and Landtman admitted the global downturn had drained cruising companies’ willingness to order new vessels. nw

A group of dignitaries at the delivery ceremony for the Oasis of the Seas at the Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, of STX Europe to its owner Royal Caribbean Cruise Line on Oct. 29. Among the dignitaries are STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo, CEO Richard Fain of RCCL and President Martin Landtman of STX Finland.

A view of the Oasis of the Seas, 360 meters long and 16 stories high and can load up to 8,500 passengers and 2,100 crewmembers with all kinds of sports, gaming, and leisure facilities built at the cost of 1.013 billion euro.