A sister for Oriana

Germany`s Meyer Werft shipyard has clinched the order to build a £200 million ($341.58 million) sister ship to P&O Cruises Oriana. The 76,000g UK-flagged vessel`s keel will be laid in January 1999 and it is scheduled to join the existing fleet early in the new Millennium. Like its sister ship, the vessel, to be named Aurora, is intended for the UK market.

Aurora will have a passenger capacity of 1,850, with the crew numbering 815. A diesel-electric propulsion plant will provide a service speed of 24 knots, and there will be three bow thrusters, each developing 1,500kW (2,010 bhp), and one stern thruster of 1,500kW (2,010 bhp).