Gloria Holmes
A few tens of centimeters will be enough: the “Wonder of the Seas” is the largest ship in the world, built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire. The technical tests will go to sea on Friday, August 20, and these tests will continue for the past four days.
At 362 meters in length, it is the twin brother of “Symphony of the Seas” and “Harmony of the Seas”, the largest cruise ship built in the world.
The “Wonder of the Seas” will set sail for the first time on Friday, August 20, around 4 p.m., for a series of tests, before being handed over to the customer, the US ship owner Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). Due to the health crisis linked to Covid-19 and its consequences for cruise activities, the ship’s delivery, tentatively scheduled for spring, has been postponed for a few months.
Dozens of tests will be conducted to verify its performance., explains Philippe Cass, Director of Communications at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, “Speed, fuel consumption, stability, internal noise and vibration measurements…”. He will return to Saint-Nazaire on Tuesday 24 August, with the tide, around 5 a.m.
The construction of this cruise ship began in 2019. The first launch took place in September 2020, during the transfer of the dock.
“Technical delivery will be delivered to the customer in November 2021”, identified by Philip Cass. It will then join a French port before departing in February 2022 for Shanghai, its home port in Asia.
The latest Chantiers de l’Atlantique can accommodate 6,800 passengers and 2,400 crew members, and has 2,745 cabins, including nearly 1,800 with sea views.
Laurence Malcom
