Rostock/Warnemünde - Today the keel laying ceremony for the first block of the new cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas was held at NEPTUN WERFT. Kevin Douglas and Sebastian Brunila from Royal Caribbean International placed the lucky cent under the block before the first block of the new ship was lowered into position.

This block is one of a total of 74 blocks for the new luxury liner and weighs altogether 938 tons. The keel laying ceremony marks the official start of construction for the Spectrum of the Seas. The ship will be one of the five largest cruise ships in the world with a gross tonnage of 168,800.

The first steel parts for the Spectrum of the Seas were cut to size in the MEYER WERFT Laser Center already back in August 2017. The completion of the ship is planned for spring 2019. Royal Caribbean took delivery of the similar sister ships Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The Quantum-Ultra class ships will have capacity for about 4,200 passengers at a size of 168,800 GT.

The keel laying ceremony was held in Rostock-Warnemünde, where the ship's engine room unit is produced, attended by Thomas Weigend, Stephan Schmees (Executive Board Member) and Carsten Pengel (Project Management) from MEYER WERFT, Raimon Strunck (Managing Director) and Mathias Kopitzki (Project Manager) from NEPTUN WERFT, Thomas Murken DNV GL and the team from Royal Caribbean International. "It is our great pleasure to build these innovative ships for Royal Caribbean and to continue our long-standing business relationship", said Stephan Schmees.

Photo: vl.Thomas Murken (DNV GL), Thomas Weigend (Meyer Werft), Carsten Pengel (Meyer Werft), Mathias Kopitzki (Neptun Werft), Stephan Schmees (Meyer Werft), Raimon Strunck (Neptun Werft), Kevin Dopuglas (Royal Caribbean), Sebastian Brunila (Royal Caribbean

Photographer: Margrit Wild