Papenburg, 17 March 2007 - The first of 72 blocks of the new 122,000-gt passenger cruise vessel Celebrity Solstice for Celebrity Cruises (Miami, USA) was laid in the roofed-over building dock II at MEYER WERFT in Papenburg (Germany).

Dan Hanrahan (President), Harri Kulovaara (Executive Vice President Maritime & Newbuilding) and Project Director Jarmo Laakso of Celebrity Cruises put the "lucky coins" on the keel blocks before the first block of the new ship was put in position by the yard´s 800-ton crane. The first block weighs more than 430 tons, is 16 m long, 36.8 m wide and approx. 8 m high. MEYER WERFT was represented by its managing directors, Bernard Meyer and Lambert Kruse, and by Project Manager Uwe Wulff.

The vessel will have a length overall of 315 m and a breadth of 36.8 m. The speed will be more than 24 knots and she will be able to accommodate more than 2,850 passengers in 1,425 cabins.

The new ship will have another two sister ships, the Celebrity Equinox and the Celebrity Eclipse. The Celebrity Solstice will feature plenty of technical innovations especially in the field of new energy saving solutions and will be built in compliance with the latest stability rules which will take effect in 2009.

The newbuilding is scheduled for delivery to the owner Celebrity Cruises in October 2008.