Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd. exercised its option to build a second ship
in its Genesis Project, the line said April 2.
Aker Yards in Finland
will build the 5,400-guest, 220,000-ton ship with a projected
delivery for August 2010, less than a year after the first Genesis
prototype ship is due out, RCCL said. The ships would be the 23rd
and 24th in the Royal Caribbean International fleet.
RCCL said it estimates
the all-in cost of the ship to be approximately $1.4 billion.
According to Aker Yards, the Genesis project ship will be 43%
larger than the current largest ship in the world, Royal
Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.
Aker said that the
order will mean "5,800 man years of work for the yard."
"Genesis is a big
challenge for us, when it comes to size and complexity in the
numerous technical innovations. But we are well prepared and
enthusiastic when taking on this challenge," said Yrjo Julin,
president of Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries, in the
statement.
He added that "this
giant" would be longer than the height of the Eiffel tower,
weighing in at 12 times more than the tower.
RCCL and Aker Yards
have built 24 ships together, Aker said, and have four on order for
between now and 2010.
The contract is
contingent on the completion of customary financing, RCCL
said.
In other RCCL news,
the cruise company said it has entered into a credit agreement with
a group of lenders for a $589 million loan to help fund its newest
megaship, the Liberty of the Seas.
According to a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the loan is due
through 2014 at an annual interest rate of 4.2% and Citibank, NA
acted as the administrative agent.
Royal Caribbean
said in the filing that it "intends to use the proceeds of the loan
towards the purchase of its new cruise vessel Liberty of the Seas;"
the $750 million ship is debuting in May.
To
contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].