The world’s largest and Royal Caribbean International’s newest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas has been floated out at the Meyer Turku shipyard on Friday.

During the weekend, the ship will be moved to the outfitting dock, where its now fully assembled hull will be finished into a magnificent cruise ship during next year.

“The float out of a new ship is a defining moment, and in the case of Icon of the Seas, it marks the next step in the start of a new era of vacations,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “We set out to create the world’s best family vacation more than five years ago, the culmination of 53 years of Royal Caribbean firsts and favorites that combine the best of every vacation. That is now a reality more than ever as Icon touches water for the first time.”

The Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s first ship that runs on liquefied natural gas and utilizes fuel cell technology. Together with its other features, such as shore power connections and waste heat recovery systems, the ship becomes a pioneer in sustainable development.

365 meters long, almost 50 meters wide and with a gross tonnage of approximately 250 000, the Icon of the Seas is the first ship in the Icon series, which in the Meyer Turku shipyard’s orderbook so far has the length of three ships.

“Icon of the Seas is a state-of-the-art ship that challenges the know-how of our shipyard and raises the entire Finnish shipbuilding industry to a new level. We are proud to be responsible for the design and construction of Icon of the Seas in cooperation with the customer and all our partner companies. This is also a significant step for the sustainable development of the shipbuilding industry,” said Tim Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.

The Icon of the Seas will be handed over to Royal Caribbean at the end of 2023 and will set sail on its first voyage in January 2024. The ship will cruise from Miami year-round in the Eastern and Western Caribbean.