Trieste (Italy), Aug 30 (IANS/AKI): The launching ceremony of Silver Moon, the second of three new ultra-luxury cruise ships that Italy's Fincantieri is building for Silversea Cruises, took place on Thursday at the company's Ancona yard.

The vessel will enter the ship owner's fleet in 2020 and will be a sister ship of Silver Muse, which took the sea in 2017, and of Silver Dawn due for delivery in 2021, according to a company statement.

At 40,700 gross tons, the Silver Moon will accommodate 596 passengers on board, and will be the ninth ship in Silversea's fleet, the statement said.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, Chairman of Silversea, while Fincantieri was represented by Giovanni Stecconi, Ancona Shipyard Director.

The godmother of the ceremony was Roberta Bonisiol, an employee of the shipbuilding group.

Like its sister ship, the Silver Moon has "Green star 3 Design", which is assigned to units that are designed, built and equipped in order to prevent air and water pollution.

Silverseas Cruises is an ultra-luxury cruise line headquartered in Monaco and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Fincantieri is one of the world's largest shipbuilding groups, is a leader in cruise ship design and construction and a reference player in all high-tech shipbuilding industry sectors.

Heaquartered in Trieste, northeast Italy, it has built over 7,000 vessels in 20 years across four continents.