Shipyard DeHoop delivers second expedition cruise vessel within two years
With the delivery of Celebrity Florain 2019, Shipyard De Hoop was the first shipyard in The Netherlands, since Prinsendam from the Merwede shipyard in 1973, to once again deliver a cruise ship, the company said in its release.
Intended for cruising the Galápagos Islands, this small cruise ship formulae turned out to be such a big success that soon the Royal Caribbean Group / Celebrity Cruises took an option for a second ship.
However, after the takeover of Silversea Cruises by Royal Caribbean (becoming the majority stockholder with almost 67%), the option was handed over to Silversea.This vessel, to be named Silver Origin, was launched on the 30th of December 2019.
After recent completion of successful sea trials, the innovative expedition cruise vessel, tailored in design and build to provide high-end luxury cruising in the Galápagos area, has been delivered to Silversea Cruises on the 3rd of June in the Rotterdam harbour area.The management at De Hoop are certain that more than a decade of participating in smaller seagoing cruise vessel projects, with the associated design development and investment in knowledge, has now paid off.
De Hoop’s CEO, Patrick Janssens, states that this was the ideal basis for entering the growing market of expedition cruise vessels -their designers were fully prepared when the GalápagosIslands cruises challenge arose. Furthermore, with many Dutch suppliers and subcontractors on the client-approved ‘makerslist’, this project presented a great opportunity for the Dutch shipbuilding industry as a whole.
