Celebrity Cruises recently held a traditional coin ceremony and keel laying for Celebrity Beyond, the third ship in its popular Edge-class series. The coin ceremony is significant in the shipbuilding industry, marking an important milestone in the construction of a new vessel.
The traditional coin ceremony is conducted to bring the ship good fortune. It coincided with the laying of a keel block for Celebrity Beyond at Chantiers de L’Atlantique’s shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.
Celebrity, a brand that’s worked to close the gender gap in the maritime industry, chose a coin from the American Innovation dollar series, honoring Annie Jump Cannon. Cannon is a daughter of an American shipbuilder, a suffragist and a pioneering astronomer credited with the development of contemporary stellar classification.
“In a year that has continuously tested the strength of our industry, it is encouraging that we move forward with building Celebrity Beyond,” said Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Group, parent company of Celebrity Cruises, in a press release. “Celebrity Beyond signals that as we prepare to return to service, we do so confidently and with great optimism about the future. ”
Tobias King, Celebrity’s project manager, and Sébastien Le Boulluec, the shipyard’s project manager for the Edge-class series of vessels, placed the ceremonial coin during the keel-laying event.
Celebrity Beyond is the sister ship to Celebrity Edge, the first in the series, and the Celebrity Apex, which will begin its first cruises in 2021.
Celebrity Beyond is scheduled to debut in 2022.
