Cruise ship comes to aid French economy

The world's second-largest cruise ship has been an unlikely savior for the French economy in the second quarter, after the latest eurozone economic figures showed that its construction at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard on France's western coast had resulted in a major financial uplift.

The 5,668-passenger capacity Utopia of the Seas, which belongs to the Royal Caribbean cruise line, is estimated to have added 1 billion euros ($1.078 billion) to the French economy, contributing to a 0.6 percent growth in trade in the three months to the end of June, and a 0.3 percent rise in GDP.

With the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris across July and August resulting in a major influx of tourists, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was hopeful that economic growth could move ahead of the government's forecast of 1 percent.