Oceania Cruises’ New Marina Completes Successful Sea Trials

Oceania Cruises’ new 1,250-guest Marina has passed a critical milestone on the way to her January 2011 launch by successfully completing sea trials on Sept. 26. During the sea trials, which included three days of sailing the Mediterranean, technicians and engineers from the Fincantieri shipyard along with Oceania Cruises’ marine and technical teams evaluated the vessel’s speed, maneuverability, hydrodynamics and propulsion, among many other aspects of the ship’s performance.

“She is a beautiful ship. Marina was extremely maneuverable with virtually no vibration to be felt, even at high speeds,” stated Captain Dimitrios Flokos, the ship’s master. “Marina exceeded all expectations. In fact, shipyard representatives commented this was the most successful sea trial in recent history for technical performance.”

With her first hurdle behind her, the 65,000-ton ship, being built at Fincantieri in Sestre Ponente, Italy, is presently in the Genoa drydock where the final outfitting work will be carried out. A second and final round of sea trials will be run just prior to the ship’s delivery, scheduled for Jan. 17, 2011. More photos from the sea trials and new construction photos can be seen at the Oceania Cruises Blog.

Marina’s inaugural schedule includes a 13-day Maiden Voyage Jan. 22 from Barcelona to Miami, where inaugural activities are planned. On Feb. 8, Marina departs on the first of two 18-day Panama Canal transits that visit San Francisco or San Diego, both new ports for Oceania Cruises. Marina operates a 12-day Caribbean cruise, round-trip from Miami, departing March 16, before sailing along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and on to Europe to begin her inaugural Mediterranean season. To learn more about Marina, visit OceaniaCruises.com.