German-built luxury cruise liner “Norwegian Joy” was due for its maiden voyage on Sunday night.
The Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship is the first in its fleet purpose-built for the Chinese tourism market. The 4,200-passenger boat will be based out of Shanghai and Tianjin and will have Mandarin as its official language.
The 326-meter (1,069-foot) cruise ship was built by major German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany.
It was due to sail from Papenburg, up the river Ems into the North Sea on Sunday night at 8.30 p.m. local time (19.30 UTC) By Monday night the luxury liner will be moored in the Dutch city of Eemshaven.
“Norwegian Joy” is the twelfth ship that the Meyer shipyard has built for NCL with two more scheduled for delivery in spring 2018 and autumn 2019. NCL is a Bermudian company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.
According to NCL’s marketing, the ship’s deck will include a two-level electric go-cart track and an open-air laser tag course, both on the top deck.
Inside will be various levels of accommodation, a virtual-reality gaming center, hovercraft bumper cars, a water park with two multi-story waterslides, an open-air park to practice tai-chi, a casino and a luxury-brand shopping center, “Cruise Critic” reported.
One of the waterslides extends over the side of the ship and the other is transparent, the online cruise guide reported.
The ship drew sharp criticism for its use of highly polluting fuel
Meyer Werft were worried about rough weather impeding the launch on Sunday night.
“It is important that there are no gusts, as this could become dangerous, especially when passing the dock sluice and the bridges,” a spokesman told public broadcaster NDR.
The ship drew criticism for its use of highly polluting fuel – common among large cruise liners.
Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, a large German conservation NGO, called the shipyard “a disaster” for its lack of environmental innovation.
aw/jm (dpa)
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A high-growth industry
More than 25 million people will book time on the world’s cruise ships this year, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. That’s a million more than in 2016. More passengers require more ships, and so 26 new cruise ships will join the existing 448-ship global fleet in 2017, including high-seas giants, smaller river cruisers, and specialist boats.
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There are more on the way
In this year alone, 2017, twelve new high-seas cruise ships will be joining the global fleet. In aggregate, they’ll be capable of carrying more than 28,000 passengers. One of every four ships due to be completed in 2017 will be built by a German shipyard or a subsidiary, according to CLIA, the industry association.
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The spectacular Ovation of the Seas on its maiden run
Europe’s shipbuilders have decades of experience building very large, complex systems, and have attained a remarkable proficiency. The supply chain includes top-quality specialised companies and highly skilled, experienced personnel. Industry association IG Metall extols European shipbuilders’ visionary design engineers – and the technicians capable of building the engineers’ grand dreams.
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Three European shipyards dominate the cruise ship building trade
Three companies dominate cruise ship construction: Italy’s Fincantieri, STX France, and Germany’s Meyer Werft in Papenburg. As of early 2016, Fincantieri had contracts to build 24 ships on its books, including the MSC Seaside. Meyer Werft (pictured) has contracts to build 21 ships, and STX France 12.
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The Japanese competition founders
The only non-European cruise ship builder, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, had only a single contract on its books as of the beginning of 2016. Mitsubishi decided to stop building cruise ships. That was fine by Germany’s Meyer Werft, which by 2013 had built seven ships for cruise operator AIDA – yet in 2011, AIDA had given Mitsubishi two shipbuilding contracts. That’s all over now, baby blue.
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AIDA’s comeback
In 2015, AIDA made a comeback. It announced that it had contracted for two new ships to be built by Meyer Werft. One is to be launched in autumn 2018, the other in Spring 2021. Each will have more than 2,500 cabins, and both will be powered by liquid natural gas, which will greatly reduce particulate emissions from the smokestack compared to conventional ship engines powered by heavy fuel oils.
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Newest ships are designed for reduced environmental impact
The new ships will be powered by liquid natural gas, LNG, instead of heavy fuel oils, dramatically reducing particulate emissions. New features include: Electric motors, high-efficiency LED lamps, heat recovery systems, and new friction-reducing coatings for hulls. Lighter-weight materials will further improve energy efficiency.
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The biggest of the biggy bigs
“Harmony of the Seas” is currently the world’s largest cruise ship. It’s 66 meters wide, over 362 meters long, and has 16 decks, 20 dining rooms, 23 swimming pools, and even a park with more than 12,000 plants. There’s room for up to 5,480 passengers and more than 2,000 crew. Royal Caribbean Cruises paid more than a billion euros to shipbuilder STX France to have this floating town built.
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April 15, 1912, was not a good day in the history of cruising
The “Titanic” was 269 meters long, had nine decks, and was able to carry up to 2687 pasengers and 860 crew. It had 2200 passengers and crew aboard on its maiden – and final – voyage. 1500 died. All of them could have been saved – the Cunard liner Carpathia arrived on the scene just an hour and twenty minutes after the Titanic went down. But there weren’t enough lifeboats on board for everyone.
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A slice of cruiser cake for China?
China could soon become a serious competitor to Europe’s cruise ship building industry. About a million Chinese booked a cruise last year. By 2030, it could be as many as eight million. Chinese shipbuilders have taken note. In July 2015, Italy’s Fincantieri set up a joint venture with China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) to build cruisers for the Chinese market.
Author: Insa Wrede
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