Thousands of onlookers watched the 216-meter-long, 57-meter-high hull of the Dream Cruises newbuild arrive Saturday afternoon under tow from MV Werften’s Warnemünde facility. There, its 145 large sections had been assembled.
Production milestone
‘We’re glad that the entire transport procedure — from undocking in Warnemünde to securing in the dock hall — proceeded so smoothly,” MV Werften CEO Peter Fetten said. He called the transfer a milestone in the production plan, adding: ‘We superbly mastered this vital step today, also thanks to great project partners at our side.’
Two oceangoing tugs towed the center section of Global Dream at a speed of about two knots, or just under 2.5 mph, in the Baltic. After seven hours on the open sea, the midsection arrived at the island of Poel in the Bay of Wismar early Saturday morning. There, four more assistance tugs joined the convoy. The passage of 15 nautical miles, or 17 land miles, into the Port of Wismar took about eight hours. The hull reached the Wismar dock hall at about 5:30 p.m. and was then secured.
Three-day operation
The entire operation, from the flooding of the Warnemünde dock to the docking in Wismar, took three days.
Global Dream will now undergo final assembly in the dock hall in Wismar. After float-out next year, the newbuild will be outfitted at the recently renovated Quay 4. A 125-meter-high crane specially acquired for work on the Global-class ships will be used to install, for example, deck structures such as a water park and a roller coaster.
Global Dream is the largest ship ever built in Germany. At 208,000gt with a length of 342 meters and width of 46 meters, it is one of the largest cruise ships in the world. It can accommodate up to 9,500 passengers and 2,200 crew members — more people than any other vessel.
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