Production of the fifth Icon Class ship started at Meyer Turku Shipyard

On Monday, 19 January 2026, production of the fifth vessel in the Icon Class began at the Meyer Turku shipyard. The ceremonial event held in the steel hall was attended by representatives of the ship’s owner Royal Caribbean Group, the Meyer Turku organization, and the classification society.

The traditional steel-cutting ceremony marked the start of more than two years of construction and outfitting work, involving thousands of professionals across different fields. Once completed, the vessel—whose name will be revealed later—will take on an important role within the Royal Caribbean Group fleet as part of the pioneering Icon Class that enables entirely new kinds of holiday experiences.

“Icon 5 is further proof of Meyer Turku’s unique ability to design and build cruise ships of the future. Together with our partner Royal Caribbean and the entire maritime industry network, we learn from every Icon ship and are able to build vessels more efficiently and with even higher quality as the series progresses. The €150 million investment program initiated by our company further strengthens the shipyard’s capabilities to develop its operations.

Each Icon ship is valued at approximately €2 billion, of which, thanks to the high domestic content, 70 percent remains in Finland. In addition, every vessel of this size creates 13,000 person-years of employment in our country,” says Meyer Turku CEO Casimir Lindholm.

Icon 5 is scheduled to be delivered in summer 2028.

Meyer Turku is currently building the third and fourth Icon Class vessels as well. The third ship, Legend of the Seas, to be delivered this coming summer, will—unlike its predecessors—begin cruising in the Mediterranean in July. The vessel will operate in the Caribbean during the winter and return to Europe again for the summer season of 2027.

Meyer Turku also holds options for the sixth and seventh Icon Class vessels. Last autumn, Meyer Turku and Royal Caribbean signed a cooperation agreement to build ships at the Turku shipyard until 2036.

In addition to the Icon vessels, Meyer Turku is building two multifunctional offshore patrol vessels at its partner shipyards. These vessels will be delivered to the Finnish Border Guard during 2026.

Text: PM Meyer Turku, Fotos: Meyer Turku