Royal Caribbean Floats Out Mega-ship

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas reached a maritime milestone on Friday when the ship was floated out, or moved from dry dock to wet dock.

The Oasis, a 5,400-passenger ship scheduled to make its debut in December 2009, is under construction at the STX Europe shipyard in Turku, Finland. Builders are beginning the final stages of interior work.

Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., was on hand for a float-out ceremony where 87 million gallons of water were released into the wet dock area.