Home Shipbuilding Chantiers de l'Atlantique: Steel cut for ‘world's biggest' cruising ship
April 3, 2024, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak
French shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique has actually cut the very first steel for OE Corinthian, the very first wind-powered cruise liner in the Orient Express Silenseas fleet.
The steel-cutting event happened in Saint-Nazaire on March 28, 2024.
Un paquebot de croisière écologique? C'est possible!
C'est le pari réussi du Silenseas, du groupe @Accor, do not la building débute aujourd'hui sur les Chantiers de l'Atlantique.
Vive l'industrie verte au service du trip décarboné! @HerveBerville pic.twitter.com/2j1t5aBy2c
— Roland Lescure (@RolandLescure) March 28, 2024
“It is with fantastic interest that we are beginning this terrific experience today along with Orient Express. This ship, a technological marvel which will change the world of high-end travelling, will represent the quintessence of Chantiers de l'Atlantique's knowledge and will be a standard from an ecological perspective,” Arnaud Le Joncour, Commercial Director of Chantiers of the Atlantic and Program Director, commented.
OE Corinthian is the very first in a series of high-end cruise liner purchased in early 2023 by French hotel group Accord for its subsidiary Orient Express.
It is thought to be the ‘very first cruise liner' geared up with the Solid Sail propulsion system. Established by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, the system was initially presented in 2022. The sailboat will cruise thanks to 3 stiff sails with an area of 1,500 m2 each. They will be hoised on a balestron rig, with 3 tilting masts reaching more than 100 meters high, able to make sure as much as 100% of the propulsion in ideal weather.
What is more, the ship will be powered by melted gas (LNG) and be hydrogen-ready.
Anticipated to be the ‘biggest sailboat worldwide', the vessel will include a length of 220 meters, a width of 25 meters, and a tonnage of 26,600 heaps. Set up to set sail in 2026, it will fly the French flag.
The introducing event preceded the finalizing of a wind propulsion pact in between the French federal government and maritime stakeholders.
By signing the pact, the French federal government verified its assistance for those associated with wind-assisted ship propulsion and is devoted to lowering the ecological footprint of the maritime sector. The federal government stated that the supreme goal is to record 30% of the international market share with French wind propulsion innovation.
On the very same day, the Pôle Sud Intégré (PSI), a brand-new pre-fabrication workshop, was inaugurated. With an area of 11,000 m2, the PSI has twelve overhead cranes, 10 semi-gantry cranes and 2 robotic welding lines dispersed in 4 naves.
“Reconciling market and ecology is possible and this is the effective difficulty of OE Corinthian,
