The world's first ocean-going luxury resort is scheduled to be afloat late in 2001 now that Bahamas-registered ResidenSea has secured financing and found a builder, company officials said. The vessel for the rich, dubbed The World of ResidenSea, was conceived four years ago by Norwegian cruise magnate Knut Kloster Jr. "After four years of an uphill struggle...we have finally made it," Henning Oeglaend, chairman of the board of ResidenSea, said at a ceremonial contract signing in Oslo with the ship's Norwegian-based builder, Fosen Mek. Verksteder AS. Flagging cruise line share prices, coupled with turmoil in the world financial market over the past few years prompted the firm to cut the size and cost of the ship to 40,000 tons at $350 million from an initial 86,000 tons at $545 million.