HELSINKI (AFP) - South Korean owned shipbuilder STX Europe on Thursday handed over a billion-euro cruise liner, the world's largest, to its owner Royal Caribbean International at its Finnish yard.

At 361 metres (1,100 feet) long and 66 metres wide, the "Allure of the Seas" is matched in size only by its twin, "Oasis of the Seas," which was launched one year ago from the same shipyard in Turku, western Finland.

The Allure can take 6,360 passengers and will have a crew of 2,100 from 65 different countries.

For the Turku yard, the launch of the Allure means the end of years of steady work for employees and subsidiary companies, who contributed to the 6,000 or so man-years required to build the Caribbean-bound leviathan.

The yards will fall silent for a year but thanks to a new order for a cruise ferry from Viking Line, the shipyards in Turku will ramp up construction again in late 2011.

The Allure will set off on its maiden voyage on Friday.

South Korean conglomerate STX took control of the Norway-based shipbuilder Aker Yards in 2008 and subsequently changed its name to STX Europe.