On Tuesday, November 23, 2021, Swan Hellenic Cruises revealed the christening of its newest cruise ship SH Minerva at the Helsinki Shipyard during a private ceremony with godmother Johanna Makela, wife of Helsinki City's Mayor Juhana Vartiainen and Finland’s first professor of food culture.
Mayor Vartiainen was present, along with Andrea Zito (Swan Hellenic's CEO) and Carl-Gustaf Rotkirch (Helsinki Shipyard's CEO).
The christening celebration follows global supply chain disruptions and spikes in COVID cases in Finland, which caused Swan Hellenic to take the decision to delay the start of SH Minerva’s inaugural season, preferring to cancel her first 2 voyages rather than the risk in any way compromising the standards of quality and safety.
SH Minerva is due to depart the shipyard next week.
The 2021-built SH Minerva is the first of three newbuilds of Swan Hellenic's fleet. The second boat (SH Vega) is planned for 2022 (launch in January, inauguration in April). The third vessel (TBN) was ordered in October 2020 and scheduled for completion in 2022-Q4.
At the christening ceremony, Helsinki Shipyard Project Manager Jonas Packalen said they were glad to see that day finally, following the global challenges that made their task far from easy.
"Our special thanks to everyone involved in the project for their unstinting dedication and superb work!”
Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito congratulated everyone at Helsinki for the impeccable work in difficult circumstances and the tight safety measures.
"The vessel has been completed after only 26 months from the signing of the contract which is a remarkable achievement. We now very much look forward to taking our guests to see what others don’t, exploring in exceptional comfort and style.”