Meyer Turku delivers third vessel to TUI Cruises ahead of schedule
Today, ten days ahead of schedule, TUI Cruises took delivery of Mein Schiff 5 from the Meyer Turku shipyard. Wybcke Meier and Frank Kuhlmann, CEO and CFO of TUI Cruises, together with Dr. Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku Oy shipyard, marked the occasion with invited guests at the handing-over ceremony, the shipbuilding company said in a press release.
In the early afternoon of June 21, 2016 the ropes will be cut. Mein Schiff 5 and her complement of approximately 1,000 crew members will then set sail for Kiel, the first German port of call where she will finally dock on June 23, 2016.
“Although this is already our third new build, it’s still incredibly exciting to see a new ship grow from the first steel cutting to the finishing interior touches. In a good two-year construction period, countless people have dedicated themselves to turning ten million components into our ship. We are looking forward to finally putting Mein Schiff 5 into service in mid-July,” Wybcke Meier says.
“We had the unique opportunity to build on the high standard and success of Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 4 to further perfect this series of ships with Mein Schiff 5. We are immensely proud of the result. This is in no small measure due to the trust and excellent cooperation with TUI Cruises,” Dr. Jan Meyer adds.
As with the entire Mein Schiff fleet, the focus on Mein Schiff 5 is on well-being and spaciousness. But there are plenty of new features to discover as well: for example the Japanese restaurant Hanami – by Tim Raue that offers a tempting menu created by the two-Michelin-starred chef from Berlin. In the ‘Schmankerl – Entspannt genießen’ restaurant, guests can enjoy Austrian specialties in a relaxing atmosphere. On Deck 14, the ‘Lagune‘, a further outdoor pool, invites passengers to take a dip. And in the reception area on Deck 3, guests can enjoy a completely redesigned space with Thalia reading lounge and Nespresso Bar.
Together with the Meyer Turku shipyard, TUI Cruises has again placed strong emphasis on eco-friendly technologies. The tried-and-tested combined exhaust after-treatment system that uses a desulfurization unit with catalytic converters significantly minimizes the emission levels of Mein Schiff 5. This technology allows sulfur emissions to be reduced by approximately 99 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by around 75 percent. Energy consumption is a further 4 percent lower than on the sister ship Mein Schiff 3. State-of-the-art technologies thus make Mein Schiff 5 one of the most energy-efficient ships in its class worldwide.
TUI Cruises is a joint venture between TUI group, the world´s number one tourism business and the global operating cruise shipping line, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The company was founded in April 2008 and is headquartered in Hamburg. It has been offering cruises for the German-speaking market since May 2009. With the commissioning of Mein Schiff 5 in summer 2016 the Mein Schiff fleet will expand to a bed capacity of 11.382 (Mein Schiff 1: 1924, Mein Schiff 2: 1.912, Mein Schiff 3: 2.506, Mein Schiff 4: 2.506, Mein Schiff 5: 2.534). The ships have been designed from bow to stern with well-being and relaxation in mind. With its well-being concept TUI Cruises targets foremost guests whose focus is on informality, space, quality and individual service. Additionally, the Premium All-Inclusive concept offers numerous service restaurants, the SPA & Sport zone and a generous and diverse entertainment program included in the already paid travel price. Within the scope of the fleet expansion TUI Cruises keeps expanding and will therefore be introducing the Mein Schiff 6 by 2017.
Additionally, two more ships will follow in 2018 and 2019 in the result of replacing the Mein Schiff 1 and the Mein Schiff 2. Consequently, TUI Cruises will possess six ships with a bed capacity of about 14,000. Environmental friendly directed business practices are firmly anchored in the corporate values of TUI Cruises. The new vessels are setting new standards in terms of environmental friendliness.
Meyer Turku Oy employs 1,500 persons and specializes in building highly complex, innovative and environmentally friendly cruise ships, car-passenger ferries and special vessels. Together with two sister shipyards in Germany, Meyer Werft in Papenburg and Neptun Werft in Rostock, Meyer Turku is one of the world’s leading cruise ship builders. The successful shipbuilding tradition in Turku has been continuing since 1737. The company is currently building cruise ships for TUI Cruises and a fast ferry for Tallink. The company will also build two cruise ships for Costa Crociere.
The design and construction of the ships are supported by the subsidiaries of Meyer Turku: Piikkio Works Oy, which is a Cabin Factory in Piikkiö, Shipbuilding Completion Oy, which provides turnkey solutions to public spaces in ships, and ENG´nD Oy, which is an engineering company offering services for shipbuilding and offshore.
