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MV Werften hands over first of four for Crystal River Cruises

Written by Nick Blenkey
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L to R: Edie Rodriguez (Crystal Cruises), Jarmo Laakso (MVW) and Joachim Hagemann (MVW) with (standing) Oliver Behrendt and Walter Schölzig (both MVW)

AUGUST 7, 2017 — In a ceremony in Wismar, Germany, last week, shipbuilder MV Werften handed over its first vessel to be completed since its acquisition by Genting Hong Kong,

The vessel, the Crystal Bach, is the first of four identical Rhine Class ships that MV Werften is building for Genting’s Crystal River Cruises.

The 135 m long and 11.4 m wide vessel has been designed for river cruising in Europe. Up to 106 passengers will sail along the Rhine, Danube and Main Rivers through the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland in 55 large suites, all designed to be above the water line with horizontal sliding windows.

Most of the public areas have floor to ceiling glass, providing a spectacular view of the surroundings, The Palm Court has a glass-domed ceiling that will allow passengers to see the sky during daylight and the moon and stars in the evening.

The luxury river yacht offers its passengers the award-winning Crystal service, including personal butler service and the highest crew-to-guest ratio in the river cruise industry.

The ship also features all the favorite facilities of the Crystal brand such as three gourmet restaurants, a spacious spa and gym, a counter current swimming pool, electric bicycles, piano bar, bistro and other facilities.

“Today, we proudly hand over this exclusive ship,” said Jarmo Laakso, Managing Director of MV Werften, during the handover ceremony. “The Crystal Bach is the first newbuilding project to be completed under the MV Werften flag. Our employees have done wonderful work and proven that they can meet the highest quality standards.”

Edie Rodriguez, CEO and President of Crystal Cruises, said: “With the Crystal Bach we now welcome the second member of the Crystal River Cruises fleet. We would like to thank MV Werften for this wonderful ship. In the past months, we have had the pleasure of working with this shipyard as an experienced and reliable partner and look forward to our cooperation in the coming three projects.”

“We have incorporated the best navigational and safety standards on ocean ships to the Crystal fleet of river ships with four azimuth thrusters for easy maneuverability, forward bridge with two navigators seated at all time with state-of-the-art navigation system and with river ship training at the Simwave simulator center in Rotterdam,” said Gustaf Gronberg, SVP of Newbuilding and Marine Operations.

The Crystal Mahler, the second ship in the class, will be delivered in a few weeks’ time. Numbers three and four of the Rhine Class, the Crystal Debussy and the Crystal Ravel, have been under construction at MV Werften in Wismar since January.

The production program at MV Werften includes nine ships in the next five years. In addition to four river cruise vessels, it includes three Crystal Endeavor Class yachts for Crystal Yacht Expedition Cruises and two cruise ships of the 204,000 gross tons Global Class for Genting Cruises in Asia. 

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