Artwork by Ruth Bellotti & Steve Rosewell called “Soldier Scale 1:1” is seen at the 2008 Sculpture by the Sea launch at Mark's Park, Bondi on October 15, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Gaye Gerard/Getty Images)

A stranded cat swims through flood water searching for dry land June 16, 2008 in Oakville, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A man poses with a hyena along a street in Lagos, Nigeria November 4, 2008. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Local residents crowd a swimming pool during a hot weather in Suining, Sichuan province, 27 July 2008. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Businesswoman with skirt caught in underwear. Image shot 2008, exact date unknown. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

Snow blows off the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before being inaugurated at sunrise, Tuesday, February 26, 2008. (Photo by John McConnico/AP Photo)

MS Allure of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. The Oasis class are the largest passenger ships ever constructed, and Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, though both were built to the same specifications. Designed under the name “Project Genesis”, she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008. She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister. The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.