STX, France's shipyard in Saint-Nazaire has sealed a deal worth around one billion euros (1.32 billion U.S. dollars) to build a massive luxury liner for the American cruiser company Royal Caribbean International.

"The contract was signed yesterday evening at around 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) . I think it is a historic moment because it is to build the largest liners in the world and the price is between 900 million and 1 billion euros, " General Manager of STX France Laurent Castaing told the radio France Info on Friday.

"This contract covers an order of an Oasis-type liner plus an option (on a second ship) to be confirmed in a year, " the STX chief noted.

With STX's activity considerably slowing down in recent year, the American company's new order came as a relief to the ailing shipyard and is expected to reactivate STX.

"This is a contract that would represent more than 10 million hours of work over three years," Castaing said, adding that this would not only provide works for the shipyard but also for its subcontractors.

He estimated that thousand of people will benefit directly from this order, recalling that "more than half of the materials used in building ships will be commanded from France."

Nevertheless, he underscored that "the Saint-Nazaire shipyards need more than that to feed."

The new contract awarded by STX is also hailed by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault who saw it as a sign of France's industrial sector recovering, after the country has experienced a 19-month consecutive rising of unemployment, as the jobless number released on late Thursday hitting a new high to 3.123 million.

"France is showing its capacity to win the battle for the recovery of its industry and exports," he said in a statement, praising "the excellence of French know-how in naval construction."

STX, which has 2,100 employees while supporting another 4,000 sub-contractors will continue its search for new orders for 2013. Endi

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