Transcend Cruises, the charter-only river cruise company, has reached a major milestone earlier this week, as the latest phase of hull construction has been reached on its first state-of-the-art, purpose-built vessel for the B2B group market. The keel laying ceremony hosted by Den Breejen Shipyard in Orsova, Romania marks this key construction phase as the company readies for the introduction of its first vessel to the group market in 2026.
At the ceremony, Transcend Cruises executives: Hans Rood - CEO, Matthew Shollar - Chief Visionary Officer, Kimberly Daley - Chief Revenue Officer, and Carmen Mladenovic - Ship Operations Manager commemorated the progression in construction for the company. Joining Transcend’s leadership team at the ceremony from their Board of Directors was Gregg Marston. From Den Breejen Shipyard: Wouter Henstra, CCO and from their partner for the hull building scope, RensenDriessen: Edwin Diepeveen, Director Operations and Thomas de Bree, CFO.
The ceremony opened with comments from Transcend’s leadership and key stakeholders, a viewing of the hull and as part of the longstanding maritime tradition, executives from Transcend and the shipyard placed a newly minted coin on the hull of the vessel. The company chose to design a custom coin for Transcend Cruises to commemorate the first ship in the purpose-built fleet that will cruise the European rivers focused exclusively on the group and private event markets. The coin captures the beauty of the ship on one side with the phrases, “Group Travel. Redefined” and “Building the Future”. The other side showcases the elegant symbol of the company with the date of the Keel Laying Ceremony: February 4, 2025.
“After years of planning and design by our Transcend team alongside our partners from Den Breejen Shipyard and RensenDriessen, it is truly thrilling to see our vision come to life and for us to get even closer to delivery,” said Hans Rood. “What we are creating is truly ground-breaking in the group travel space and our dedicated team looks forward to the next construction phase when the completed hull is brought to Den Breejen’s shipyard in the Netherlands this summer for the final outfitting and commissioning phases before we launch next year.”
After the ceremony, the participants took part in a tour of the shipyard and an overview of the next stages to come at this Orsova shipyard. This summer the ship will transition up the Danube to complete the interior construction at Den Breejen’s shipyard in the Netherlands.
"The keel laying of Transcend Cruises' new vessel marks the beginning of an exciting journey. This ship embodies innovation, luxury, and sustainability—crafted with precision and passion by our dedicated team. We are honored to partner with Transcend Cruises in bringing their vision to life and look forward to seeing this vessel set sail on unforgettable voyages,” said Wouter Henstra.
Following the keel laying ceremony, the executive team of Transcend Cruises will travel to Hoganas, Sweden to meet with the leadership at Tillberg Design of Sweden to continue the process for the interior design of the ships.
Transcend is currently accepting charter bookings for 2026 and beyond although space is becoming limited in the launch year.
