Carole Ferry and Simon Ruben, edited by Yanis Darras 1:49 p.m., August 21, 2021

In Saint-Nazaire, the shipyards are celebrating the first sea trip of the "Wonder of the Seas".

This new sea monster, which won the title of the largest liner in the world, leaves for four days at sea to carry out technical tests.

Nearly 500 technicians are present on board.

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Almost 362 meters long, 2,400 crew members, up to 7,000 passengers ... The new giant of the seas, the "Wonder of the Seas", displays figures to make your head spin.

A few months before its delivery, the largest liner in the world left the Saint-Nazaire site, where it was born, to spend four days at sea. Objective: to check the stability of the ship, its fuel consumption, its speed or even internal vibrations.

About 500 technicians are mobilized for the operation.

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"It is a great emotion for all the teams who are on board the ship today because this first outing at sea is a bit like the first steps of a child", confides Jean-Yves Jaouen , the head of operations, before adding: "For the moment, we are off Belle-Île-en-Mer and we are preparing in the coming hours to do speed tests. We will launch the ship at full speed, 24 knots or 45 kilometers per hour. " 

"The future is being built now"

After this test period, the Saint-Nazaire teams will finalize the delivery of the liner, scheduled for March 2022. He will then leave for China, to pursue his career there. There is no question of resting for the employees of the shipyards of the city of Loire-Atlantique. Very close to closing fifteen years ago, the site's order books are now complete at least until 2029. "We are rather serene, rather reassured" assures the mayor of Saint-Nazaire, David Samzun, " even if we are always vigilant, ”he explains.

"We are well aware that these sites have a fairly cyclical economy (...) and we must pay attention to the evolution of hybrid proposal modes, especially sailing. So we remain vigilant because the future is being built now", underlines the 'elected. In total, seven liners, four military ships and four substations will be built by the end of the decade in Saint-Nazaire.