What are the phases of construction and the key milestones?
At the moment we are in the initial design phase. Drawings have been carried out for engineering design, interior design, and operation design. We have also produced specifications for the entire ship. That specification is going to be signed with the ship building contract – the first construction milestone.
The next phase will be the detailed engineering design. We’ll produce detailed engineering drawings, production design, and we’ll start cutting steel. That will be a milestone, the first cutting of steel.
The next phase is building sub-blocks. Those sub-blocks of steel will be made into larger blocks. Those larger blocks will be outfitted in some way: piping, cabling, cable trails.
Then the next milestone is the keel laying. This is when they’ve constructed at least 50 tons of steel into a block and they put the blocks on the slipway where they’ll continue outfitting the ship. The blocks continue to be built upon until they form a ship.
The next milestone will be the engine installation of the four main engines.
Then when the ship gets to a certain weight, the next milestone after that is launching, when the ship goes down the slip, into the water and is taken to a berth. At the berth, they carry on outfitting, painting and finishing. Then they start commissioning out the machinery and the systems.
Following that, the next milestone is sea trials, when the ship is taken to sea for the first time. It will be tested at sea, running through loads of different operational tests to check if everything is working. After any issues, problems or snags have been sorted out, then the ship is complete.
Then delivery, when the ship is completed and accepted by the residents. That’s when we’ll have a naming ceremony.