| New HAL ship begins

CONSTRUCTION of Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam is underway, marked by a keel laying ceremony held at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard.

The first building block of the ship is 11.3m long, 34.8m wide and weighs 260 tonnes.

Nieuw Statendam is due for delivery at the end of 2018 and is the sister ship of Koningsdam.

It will be 99,800 gross tons, almost 300m long and will accommodate 2,650 pax in more than 1,300 cabins.