The Disney Adventure, a cruise ship with capacity for 6,000 passengers, was launched from the German yard where it was built on Saturday after seven years of construction, which was delayed by bankruptcy and the pandemic.
Construction of the 340-metre vessel was hit by the insolvency in 2022 of shipbuilder MV Werften based at the Baltic Sea port of Wismar. It will now undergo final fitting before leaving at the end of the year to serve the Southeast Asian market for Disney Cruise Line.
The ship was originally ordered by Genting Hong Kong, which was active in tourism and gambling but did not survive the pandemic.
US company Disney Cruise Line then took over the ship and had it converted from the original capacity of 9,500 planned for the Chinese market to its current format.
The German authorities said the vessel was the largest cruise liner ever built in Germany, with Manuela Schwesig, premier of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, describing its launch as a “great day” for the north-eastern state.