P&O Cruises Iona ship to enter drydock in Rotterdam

   May 29, 2020 ,   Cruise Industry

P&O Cruises' newest ship - MS Iona - will be relocated from Germany to Holland (Rotterdam) for inspection work. The newbuild (by Meyer Werft) was last docked in Bremerhaven Germany for final outfitting works.

Iona's drydock in Rotterdam is scheduled to start on June 2. Drydocking is mainly for hull- and propulsion machinery inspections.

The passage from Germany to Holland is also used for North Sea trials (nautical and technical tests and monitoring the machinery's performance). For this reason, Iona left Bremerhaven's Columbus Pier Kreuzfahrtterminal on May 29 and is currently positioned between Germany and Norway.

P&O Cruises Iona ship

Iona is MEYER WERFT's 50th cruise vessel built. The construction works have been going on since the liner was transferred over Ems River to Bremenhaven from the Papenburg Shipyard. Nevertheless, the pandemic is causing restrictions in the final fitting of P&O Iona.

After work onboard had to be temporarily interrupted in March, MEYER WERFT, the Port Medical Service, and Bremerhaven Port Authority were able to create a joint concept which allows the continuation of outfitting under corona protection conditions.