Today we remember it for the worst of reasons, its sinking in the Atlantic during its maiden voyage in April 1912, but in its day the RMS Titanic was an icon of the oceans. A whole display of nautical engineering and opulence, a colossus, one of the ships more colossal and luxurious never built and of course “virtually unsinkable”, according to his proud shipping company, White Star Line. The reality, more than a century later, is that if an ocean liner like the Titanic docked in Barcelona today, it would not arouse much interest.
Yes, perhaps we would be surprised by the elegance of its helmet, but when it comes to dimensions… no one would activate the camera on their mobile surprised by its size.
And it’s normal. The 269 meters in length, 28.2 m beam and 46,328 tons in gross tonnage may have surprised Southamptonians in 1912, but not their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, used to seeing vastly larger passenger ships dock at the city’s docks. in 2016 Without going any further, they contemplated the Harmony of the Seasa cruise ship of 361.8 m in length and a gross tonnage of 226,963 tons, figures that far exceed those of the Titanic.
The fact is that even the Harmony of the Seas is not the largest passenger ship that sails the seas. That honor is held today by the Wonder of the Seas, an entire floating city recognized by the Guinness World Records since March 2022 as the largest cruise ship in the world, with 235,600 GT, acronym for gross tonnage.
By his side the Titanic would be a ship rather discreet: the gigantic ship Oasis-class of the operator Royal Caribbean measures neither more nor less than 362 m in length and 64 wide and can accommodate 7,084 passengers and more than 2,200 crew members.
The throne of king of cruise ships will not last long.
At the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, they are working on what will be the new jewel of the Royal Caribbean fleet: the impressive Icon of the Seas, 365 m long and 250,800 GT. Just a few weeks ago the ship entered the open sea for the first time to undergo key tests with the help of 450 specialists who were in charge of controlling their motors or noise levels. All with the aim of completing a new test at the end of the year and for the ship to debut at in 2024.
When it does it will become the cruise biggest in the worldwith measures that would make the operators of Harland & Wolff of Belfast that more than a century ago gave shape to the ill-fated ship of the White Star Line.
Your technical sheet speaks for itself: 365 meters in length, 2,805 cabins, capacity for a maximum of 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, 20 decks, seven pools and 250,800 GT. The Titanic measured 269.1m by 28.2 beam with seven decks and a gross tonnage of 46,329 GRT, well below the new Royal Caribbean colossus that is taking shape in Turku. In terms of capacity, it could accommodate 885 crew and 2,435 passengers among its three categories.
A new titan of the seas for a new century.
Images: royal caribbean
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