Friday, November 8, 2013

STX Floats TUI's Mein Schiff 3

STX Finland floated TUI's Mein Schiff 3 for the first time this afternoon (November 8, 2013) at their Turku (Finland) yard. Once floating on Saturday, it will be towed to a finishing dock for completion of the interior. The 99,700-ton vessel will carry 2,506 passengers (double) and a crew of approximately 1,000 when it enters service in June 2014.


The photo above was taken just as the water begins to flood the drydock this afternoon. Filling it with some 300 million liters of water will take until tomorrow.



 

The photo above was taken just before the flooding began after the dry dock has been cleared.


In this photo, the first of the water begins to flood STX's giant dry dock.


This photo was taken about 6:40pm (local time) showing the water level beginning to rise (note the water level on the propellers compared to the aft photo above) and the effects of a late afternoon snow storm.

The operation continued on Saturday with towing the ship to the finishing dock.

Photos courtesy of TUI Cruises and STX Finland. Copyright TUI Cruises, STX Finland and Cruise News Daily. May not be copied or reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.