PROJECT GENESIS WILL BE THE WORLD'S LARGEST CRUISESHIP

 SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEED

SEND TO FRIEND

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. commissioned the world's largest cruise ship, agreeing to pay a record 900 million euros ($1.1 billion) for a vessel that will carry 5,400 passengers.

The ship, codenamed Project Genesis, will be almost as long as four football fields and 43 percent bigger than the next- largest cruise liner, Freedom of the Seas. Oslo-based Aker Yards ASA said today in a statement its Finnish division will deliver the Project Genesis ship in late 2009 after finishing the Freedom of the Seas for Royal Caribbean in April.

Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises, the world's two largest cruise operators, are ordering larger ships as increasing numbers of customers buy package vacations and spend more once onboard. The number of people taking cruises jumped 5.7 percent to 8.35 million in the first nine months of 2005, according to the New York-based Cruise Lines International Association.

``This ship will have the same jaw-dropping awe that the newest casino-hotels in Las Vegas have,'' said David Leibowitz, managing director with New York-based Burnham Securities Inc., which owns Royal Caribbean shares. ``There will be so many things on board that you won't be able to get to it all on a 7-night cruise.''

The 18-deck, $860 million Freedom of the Seas, with capacity for 4,300 passengers, will overtake the 3,090-passenger Queen Mary 2 operated by Carnival's Cunard division as the world's biggest cruise ship. The Queen Mary 2 began sailing in 2004.

Project Genesis

The 220,000-ton Project Genesis liner will be 360 meters (1,180 feet) long and 47 meters wide and stand 65 meters above the waterline, Aker said today. The Freedom of the Seas will weigh 158,000 tons.

Project Genesis will be a ``remarkable ship,'' whose ``bold design, daring innovation and technological advancements'' will help win new customers and keep current ones, Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain said in the statement.

Shares of Aker Yards, Europe's biggest shipbuilder, rose 19 kroner, or 5.8 percent, to 346.5 kroner in Oslo, the biggest jump since Oct. 26. Shares of Miami-based Royal Caribbean gained 9 cents to $44.39 at 4:12 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.