Almost seven years after the start of construction, the new cruise ship “Disney Adventure” was unveiled to curious onlookers for the first time on Easter Saturday.
The 342 m long luxury liner (208,000 GT) is the largest cruise ship ever built in Germany. With the help of four tugs, the newbuilding was undocked from the construction hall in Wismar.
After about an hour, the mighty hull of the cruise ship, which is designed for 6,000 passengers and has already been completely painted in the Disney colors, was revealed for the first time. The bow of the ship, which sails for Disney Cruises, is emblazoned with the familiar face of Mickey Mouse – a clear indication of the new owner.
After undocking, the 46 m wide ship was towed to the shipyard pier for further outfitting work. This included fitting the two red exhaust posts on the ship’s hull, which are currently still in the shipyard’s outdoor area along with a roller coaster.
The “Disney Adventure” was originally commissioned by the Asian Genting Group at the MV shipyards in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as the “Genting Dream“. The keel was laid in Rostock-Warnemünde in September 2018. At the time, it was to be the largest cruise ship in the world, with a capacity of up to 10,000 passengers. But then came the coronavirus pandemic.
Disney buys unfinished new build out of insolvency
Due to the worldwide suspension of cruises, the Genting Group ran into financial difficulties and as a result, MV Werften filed for insolvency in January 2022. Construction on the ship was halted, and a sister ship of the same design, which had been laid down in December 2019, was later scrapped.
After a long period of uncertainty, the US shipping company Disney Cruise Line secured the unfinished ship in the fall of 2022 at a “bargain price” of just USD 40 million and plans to deploy the newbuild in Asia from Singapore.
Meyer Werft stepped in as the contractor for the refit – work has continued since last year. This also included a comprehensive design adjustment, so that the passenger capacity was reduced to just 2,111 for around 6,000 guests by removing some cabins.
Officially, the “Disney Adventure” will remain in Wismar until August. It has not yet been decided where the necessary test trips will take place. This is because there is a size or draught problem for the port of Wismar. Only ships with a length of around 220 m and a draught of 8.7 m are actually allowed to call at the narrow port.
This means that things could get exciting again in the summer when the “Disney Adventure” is due to leave the shipyard for the Baltic Sea. The newbuild will probably be handed over to the US shipping company in Eemshaven in the Netherlands. The first voyage for Disney in the Asian market is scheduled to start in Singapore on December 15. (CE)
