The keel laying for the Carnival Mardi Gras was marked today at Meyer Turku shipyard with the traditional coin ceremony, as a coin was set on top of the keel blocks of the new LNG-fueled vessel. 

“We have been very excited to design and now finally to start assembling the Carnival Mardi Gras. All these different features onboard require a lot of engineering and design expertise which we have been happy to provide to our customer,” CEO of Meyer Turku Jan Meyer stated.

The assembly of the ship hull is well underway as the engine room unit came from another Meyer shipyard, Neptun Werft, in Rostock, Germany, a few weeks ago. 

“This is a historic day for Carnival – the official start of construction of the spectacular Mardi Gras which will usher in an exciting new chapter for our company and introduce so many guest-pleasing innovations,” said Carnival Cruise Lines SVP Newbuilds Ben Clement.

The cruise line is already benefiting from some of the investments of Meyer Turku’s 200 million euro investment program, according to a press release.

The steel halls at the shipyard are going through a major rebuilding with new machines and IT-systems, but also new processes to build the ships with newly trained employees.

“We are seeing the benefits already and will continue to see more benefits later this year. Already our automated steel pre-treatment facility and storage have been up and running for some time now and supporting the steel construction of Mardi Gras,” Meyer said.