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Royal Caribbean Orders Third Icon-Class Ship

Meyer Turku
Meyer Turku

Published Jul 4, 2019 6:14 PM by The Maritime Executive

Royal Caribbean Cruises has ordered a third Icon-class cruise ship from Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

The deal, still subject to financing, will see the new vessel delivered from Turku in the spring of 2025. The previous Icon ships are to be delivered in 2022 and 2024. Construction of the first Icon ship will begin in the spring of 2020.

The Icon ships will be approximately 200,000 gross tonnage cruise ships, accommodate around 5,000 passengers and will be powered by LNG. 

Other details of the Icon class are yet to be made public, but in 2017, it was announced that the vessels will feature a PEM pure hydrogen fuel cell power system from Ballard Power Systems. The pilot installation, including control, converter and transformer technology from ABB, will generate 100 kW of energy. An air lubricated hull has also been planned, with DNV GL to class the vessels. 

Royal Caribbean's cruise line brands operate 61 ships with 15 on order as of March 31, 2019.

Meyer Turku has a long-standing history with Royal Caribbean including delivery of Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas in 2009 and 2010. The new order extends the yard's order book to 2025 and includes seven large cruise ships. In 2018, Meyer Turku delivered New Mein Schiff 1 to German TUI Cruises. New Mein Schiff 2 was delivered in January 2019. 2018 also saw the start of hull production for Costa Cruises Smeralda and the start of production for Carnival Cruise Lines Mardi Gras, both 180,000 gross tonnage cruise ships.