Den Breejen Shipyard cuts steel for Transcend river vesselDen Breejen Shipyard cuts steel for Transcend river vessel

Den Breejen Shipyard cut steel for Transcend Cruises' river newbuild. The to-be-named vessel for the B2B group market is scheduled to begin sailing the Rhine in the 2026 season.

Netherlands-Romania construction

Construction will take place at Den Breejen in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, the Netherlands, with the hull currently under construction in Orsova, Romania.

The steel-cutting ceremony was attended by company and partner representatives including Hans Rood, CEO of Transcend Cruises; Wouter Henstra, CCO of Den Breejen Shipyard; and Helena Sawelin, partner & design/sustainability director of Tillberg Design of Sweden.

Designed for groups

Transcend Cruises’ 135-meter vessels will offer customized spaces and services designed exclusively for the group market including five venues that can accommodate all 120 passengers.

One of those, The Forum, is a double-deck amphitheater for group programs such as leadership talks, destination expert-led presentations, concerts and other performances.

The Studio venue,  for the client, will be located on Deck One next to their dedicated office space and three staff cabins. It can accommodate meetings of any size and format with 1,500 square feet of open, configurable space as well as full A/V capabilities.

Related:Transcend Cruises inks newbuild contract with Den Breejen Shipyard (updated)

Staterooms convert into suites

Up to 120 passengers will be accommodated in identical, oversized staterooms that convert in pairs to suites, allowing the charterer to flex the offering for between 30 to 120 attendees. 

'We’ve benefited from serving the charter market with our MS Advance over the past 18 months, proving that our concept is right on target for our newbuilds from all sectors of the group market including MICE, tour operators, private events, direct corporations, affinity groups and from leisure and corporate agencies,' Rood said.

Booking demand

He added: 'We have strong booking demand from markets around the world including the Americas and Europe, as well as Asia, Middle East, Oceania and beyond.'

Transcend is taking charter bookings for 2026 and beyond but said space is becoming limited in the launch year.