World’s largest cruise liner launched

HELSINKI, Finland—Finnish shipbuilders say the world’s largest cruise liner has been launched into water for the first time.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas will be completed within a year before sailing to Miami. The ship was floated out Friday at a Turku shipyard dry dock.

It has 16 passenger decks with 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 3,000 crew. It is 1,200 feet (360 meters) long and has an open-air arena the size of a football field.

Special features include a 750-seat theater modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater, a skating rink and a youth area.

The 225,000-ton vessel has a price tag of $2.5 billion. Royal Caribbean International has ordered another Oasis-class liner due to be launched in 2010.