Floating city
The world's largest ship, the Icon of the Seas, is being completed at shipyards, and will surprise the whole world in size. Icon of the Seas, expected to launch in 2024, will be a true masterpiece of the shipping industry.
On the train there are water parks, gardens, restaurants, bars, and concert rooms. There are even mountain climbing walls and space for artificial surfing. The "pearl" of the ship will be the "Horror Island" theme park with slides of the sixth grade. In total, Icon of the Seas will have 7 swimming pools and 6 water-based entertainment complexes. The maximum capacity of the ship is expected to be 7,600 guests.
For passengers, the cabins with over 20 boxes are designed for all ages and wallets. There are family rooms and " temporary" rooms with panoramic sea views.
The space inside the ship is divided into 8 areas according to different themes, suitable for both partying and relaxation lovers.
When completed, the ship will become the world's largest cruise ship. But Icon of the Seas won't be the only record, as the company wants to build two more ships in 2025 and 2026 under the same project.
The records of the ocean
To date, five "Oasis" ships with a displacement of about 220,000 tons, all built by Royal Caribbean International, are considered the ships holding the record for size: Miracle of the Seas (2022), Symphony of the Seas (2018), Harmony of the Seas (2016), Oasis of the Seas (2009) and The Charm of the Seas (201).
The construction of these works of art costs a lot of money - each ship costs about 1.5 billion USD.
The size of the Oasis ships is incredible their length is 360m and the height is almost the size of a 25-storey building with a perfect entertainment system.
Visitors can watch theatrical performances or hang out in czinos or take part in adventurous activities.
Royal Caribbean International is considered one of the world's largest cruise companies. Headquartered in the US, the group owns 42 ships passing through "open space of the world's oceans".
Floating hotel
Next to the 5 "Oasis" ships is the MSC World Europa, with a displacement of 215,000 tons, owned by MSC Cruises. Just like in all previous cases, a series of large entertainment activities are waiting for guests on the boat, including a giant water park.
However, in this case, shipbuilders decided to create a greener version of the ship and include it in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine.
The ship has never set sail on a single route and will welcome its first guests on December 9 in the Qatari capital. Currently, MSC World Europa is anchored near Doha and serves as a hotel for World Cup visitors.
The 6th and 7th positions belong to the two Costa Crociere ships, each worth 185 thousand tons - the Costa Smeralda and Costa Tuscany ships. These ships also run on LNG, but the entertainment system is no different from the larger "colleagues".
In general, currently, some ship owners recommend that customers not rent a cabin for each trip but buy a "apartment" on the ship so that they can comfortably move in their "home" around the world.
In principle, this is a very good travel choice for retirees, who can both live on a ship and travel around the world. Of course, with a price starting at 940,000 USD, only the rich can buy such a luxury.
Traveling on such ships will have a cost starting from the popular price of 500 USD for the shortest trip of 5-6 days to thousands of USD for monthly trips in luxurious rooms.
Can modern ships repeat the fate of Titanic?
Sea travel is not always safe and there are not few shady things, because sea trips are sometimes the last trip in the lives of passengers.
According to researchers Travis Heggie and Tracey Barton-Heggie from the University of bowling Green, from the early 2000 to the end of 2019, 623 people died on this type of ship for various reasons, including 557 passengers and 66 crew members.
However, the main cause of death is not large-scale shipwrecks, but normal causes that are not much different from accidents on land, which are due to illness, violations of safety rules and suicide. Many people died on their trips to the mainland due to accidents or other injuries.
Shipwrecks directly related to tourist ships are currently extremely rare and if they do occur, the number of victims is also very small. The largest cruise ship sinking of our time was the Costa Concord in 2012 when it crashed into a coral reef off the coast of Italy.
The consequences of the accident were 33 deaths (including 1 diver working at the scene for emergency care). This figure cannot be compared to the 1,500 victims of the Titanic.
The reason for the safety of resting on ships is that the security system on such ships is equipped with the latest technology and the trips are also far from possible dangerous places.
