On July 9, Germany’s Meyer Werft released on its official website stating that the Oriental Land Company (OLC) has commissioned MEYER WERFT to build a Disney Wish-class cruise ship for the Japanese market. Bernard Meyer has signed the shipbuilding contract on July 9 in Tokyo.
The new ship is scheduled to be delivered in 2028. OLC, which operates the Disney theme parks in Japan, is expected to commence operation of the ship by early 2029.
The Oriental Land Company reached a decision to enter into the cruise business in Japan, and has concluded an agreement with Disney. to bring the magic of Disney cruise to the Japanese market for the first time.
According to a press release issued by OLC on the same day, the cruise ship has a gross tonnage of about 140,000 and is equipped with 1,250 staterooms to accommodate about 4,000 passengers and it can accommodate about 1,500 crewmembers. The total investment in the project, including construction and preparation costs, is about 330 billion yen (about $2.042 billion).
“With this new order, we look forward to continuing our relationship with Disney and working with Oriental Land Company, which also has a long-standing relationship with Disney, as a new customer. This is a strong signal for shipbuilding in Papenburg and shows that companies from all over the world rely on the quality of MEYER WERFT,” says Bernd Eikens, CEO of the MEYER Group.
MEYER WERFT has already delivered the Disney Wish, the first ship in the Wish class, to Disney Cruise Line in 2022. The two sister ships Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny are already under construction in Papenburg and will be delivered in 2024 and 2025.
Established in 1960, Oriental Land Co., Ltd. owns and operates the Disney theme parks in Japan based on its agreement with Disney. It opened Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, Tokyo DisneySea, the first ever ocean-themed Disney theme park, in 2001, and operates Tokyo Disney Resort which includes hotels, a monorail, and a retail-dining-entertainment complex. More recently, in June 2024, it opened Tokyo DisneySea’s eighth themed port Fantasy Springs, bringing further evolution to Tokyo Disney Resort.
