Royal Caribbean has released a construction update on the much-anticipated Icon of the Seas cruise ship. The ship will be the cruise line’s first vessel powered by Liquified Natural gas (LNG), and the complex construction is taking place at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg and Neptune Werft in Rostock, both in Germany.
Icon of the Seas Construction Update
We all know that the first LNG-powered Royal Caribbean cruise ship is coming, and construction started on Icon of the Seas in June 2021. There is still some way to go until completion in 2023, but for now, here’s what’s been happening at the shipyard.
With the ship being the first in the fleet to be powered on LNG, the cruise line released a new video showcasing the first LNG tank installation at the Neptune Werft yard in Rostock, Germany. The first LNG tank weighs 307 tons, is 90 feet long and 26 feet tall.
The tank was lowed into one of the sections of what will become one block of many, making up the entire cruise ship. The section will eventually make its way down to Papenburg, where Icon of the Seas will come together. You can watch the installation below:
Once the ship construction is completed, it will be 200,000 gross tons, making her one of the largest cruise ships in the world but not as large as the Oasis-class vessels. LNG will become an essential aspect of the ship as it will reduce fuel consumption and emissions, including a shore power connection at the port.
When it comes to onboard features, Royal Caribbean has not yet revealed anything, but that should be coming very soon. The cruise line has teased that Icon of the Seas will have some industry-first features and take the cruise line into a new era of ship design and experiences.
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Icon of the Seas will be the first in her class and will debut in fall 2023. There will be a second Icon-class arriving in 2025 and a third in 2026. Royal Caribbean also has Wonder of the Seas in the final stages of construction in France, and she will become the world’s largest cruise ship in 2022. Another Oasis-class vessel is planned to debut in 2024.
