Tag Archives: stx france

1st Celebrity ships in new class to be named Edge and Beyond

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Celebrity Edge steel cutting ceremony

 Celebrity Cruises has named two new ships being built for 2018 and 2020: Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Beyond.

They will be the first two ships in a new class. Two additional Edge-class ships are due in 2021 and 2022.

It will be Celebrity’s first new ship class since the debut of Celebrity Solstice in 2008. There are five Solstice-class ships (Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette and Reflection).

Celebrity and shipyard STX France cut the first steel for the Celebrity Edge this week.

STX Offshore seeks to sell STX France

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STX Offshore seeks to sell STX France

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co aims to sell STX France, say media reports

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co aims to sell STX France as part of a restructuring plan, according to media reports.

The South Korean company, which filed for receivership in May, reportedly told a bankruptcy court in South Korea that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to help it sell its subsidiary STX France, and also said it plans to cut its staff in Korea by a third by the end of September this year.

STX’s creditors will decide in October whether to accept the restructuring plan, say media reports.

Previous sale attempts of STX France fell through in 2014 and 2015.

STX France was acquired by STX Offshore and Shipbuilding in 2009. The shipbuilder has a very healthy orderbook, with cruise ships on it including MSC Cruises’ two next generation Vista-class cruise ships and Celebrity Cruises’ Project Edge newbuilds. 

It also built the world’s largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, which was delivered earlier this year, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed for a fifth Oasis-class ship.

Ulysseas project – the new expedition cruise ship design

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In March 2015, the major shipbuilder STX France unveiled a revolutionary new expedition ship design named “Ulysseas”. It represents an innovative idea for a small cruise ship (passenger capacity 200, ice-class hull, length 476 ft / 145 m, cruising speed 17 kn / 20 mph / 31 kmh) aimed at the expedition cruising market.

Ulysseas cruise ship design

The main reason for the Ulysseas project is that currently, the expedition cruise market uses mostly second-hand vessels. Unique for this new ship design is the excessive usage of glass (in all public areas) and the French balconies (false balconies) on all passenger cabins. Every passenger-use facility on the new vessel features floor-ceiling windows. There will be an unique forward-located observation lounge for 360-degree views.

The Ulysseas ship’s aft-section is an STX-patented design for saving energy. This is a movable duck-tail, which position depends on cruising speeds and weather conditions. The vessel will be powered by two 2.5 MWT azipods (rotating at 360° Azimuth thrusters), with four diesel-electric generators and one scrubber. This cruise ship design also features a helipad (helicopter landing pad), a helicopter storage space (inside the ship), zodiac boats for ship-to-shore operations.