Keel laid for Royal Caribbean’s Oasis 4

The keel for Royal Caribbean International’s fourth Oasis class cruise ship was officially laid today during a ceremony at the STX shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.

One hundred guests witnessed a 1,000-ton block measuring 10 x 47 metres (32 feet x 154 feet) lifted by crane into the building dock. Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President of Maritime and Newbuilding at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, placed newly minted coins under the keel that will stay in place until the end of the ship’s construction. Once the ship is near to completion, the coins will be retrieved and presented to the ship’s Captain and crew to be placed on-board the vessel. According to maritime tradition, the coins are said to bring luck to the ship during its construction process and then to its Captain and crew when she is sailing out at sea.

The ship has yet to be named but is currently being referred to as “Oasis 4”. It is expected that the ship will closely mirror Harmony of the Seas, formerly coded as “Oasis 3”, which merges the innovations found on the Quantum-class ships, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, with the scale of the Oasis-class ships, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. Wonderland, the Bionic Bar by Makr Shakr, and virtual balconies for inside cabins are some of the Quantum-class innovations being added to the third Oasis-class vessel.

Harmony of the Seas is currently under construction at the STX France site in St. Nazaire. The project is currently 80 percent complete and her launch date will be in spring 2016. At this point she will officially become the world’s largest passenger cruise ship in service based on gross tonnage. A video of the latest build progress of Harmony of the Seas can be viewed below:

Oasis 4, the fourth Oasis-class ship, will be delivered in spring 2017.

(Photo credits to Royal Caribbean International)