Papenburg, 23 January 2009 - Today the first block out of a total of 72 of the new 122,000-gt passenger cruise vessel Celebrity Eclipse for Celebrity Cruises (Miami/USA) was put in place in the yard's covered building dock II which was lengthened by 120 metres. In January 2008 the Prime Minister of Lower-Saxony, Christian Wulff, laid the corner stone of the new dock area.

Now Harri Kulovaara (Executive Vice President Maritime & Newbuilding), Christer Schoug (Vice President Newbuilding) and Project Director Jarmo Laakso of Celebrity Cruises put down the traditional "lucky cents" in this new part of the dock of the shipyard before the first block of the new ship was lowered by the 800-ts crane. This first block weighs approx. 550 tons, is 16 m long, 36.80 m wide and approx. 8.00 m high. MEYER WERFT was represented by Bernard Meyer (Managing Partner), Lambert Kruse (Managing Director) and Uwe Wulff (Project Manager). The Celebrity Eclipse is the third ship in a series of five for Celebrity Cruises (Miami/USA).

The delivery of the ship to Celebrity Cruises is scheduled for 2010. The Celebrity Eclipse has a length overall of 317 m, a breadth of 36.80 m, and will be able to operate at a speed of more than 24 knots. More than 2,852 passengers will be accommodated in 1,426 cabins. This class of ships features plenty of technical innovations. It will contain numerous energy-saving systems, and is built in line with the latest stability regulations.

Photo/Caption: Keel-laying of Celebrity Eclipse. In the background: Celebrity Equinox which will be delivered in July 2009.