Cruise line Star Clippers to build world's largest square rigger

Add Star Clippers to the list of cruise companies building a new vessel.

Star Clippers founder and president Mikael Krafft today announced the sailing ship line is constructing the world's biggest square rigger to debut in the second half of 2017.

Measuring 8,770 tons with room for 300 passengers, the as-yet-unnamed vessel will be Star Clippers' first newly-built ship since the launch of the company's current flagship, the 237-passenger Royal Clipper, in July 2000. Star Clippers currently operates three sailing vessels: Royal Clipper, the 170-passenger Star Flyer and the 170-passenger Star Clipper.

Speaking to cruise writers in a conference call, Krafft said the new vessel had been designed as a five-masted, square-rigged barque. While the Royal Clipper is modeled on the famed German sailing ship Preussen, the new member of the fleet will be a near-replica of the even bigger France II, which was the largest square rigger ever built. Operating as a cargo ship, it sailed from 1911 until it ran aground in 1922.

The project is the fulfillment of a longtime dream for Krafft, who often speaks passionately about the sailing ships of old.

"My wife always says I am so childish," Krafft said during the conference call. "When I was 10 years old, I built a lot of ship models in a scale of 1 to 200. Now I still build a lot of ship models, just in a scale of 1 to 1."

Krafft said the new vessel will have three pools, including one that funnels sunlight through the ship's atrium into an elegantly appointed dining room. There also will be a water sports platform in the stern for use when the ship is at anchor.

The ship will have several categories of cabins including 34 suites with balconies and four luxurious owner's suites. A restaurant in the light-filled atrium will accommodate all passengers for open-seating dining.

Krafft said that fans of the line will find a lot that's familiar on the vessel, including such Star Clippers hallmarks as a cozy library, a bowsprit net and an al fresco Tropical Bar. While bigger than Star Clippers' other vessels, it'll still feel intimate, he added.

"You will have a lot of areas you will recognize," Krafft said. "You will feel like you are on one of our small ships."

Operating with a crew of 140, the vessel will have engines to assist in navigation but will rely on wind power and its sails wherever possible, Krafft said. It'll have more than 60,000 square feet of sails.

The ship initially will operate the company's most popular itineraries in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Cabins are expected to open for booking in 2016.

For a deck-by-deck look at a Star Clippers ship, click through the carousel below.