CRUISE LINER TECHNOLOGY


Pride of America. She was originally planned - as reported in The Naval Architect May 1999, page 35 - to launch a new generation of US- built and owned passenger ships. The pair ordered would have been the first large passenger liners to be built in that country for approximately 40 years (since the two Moore McCormack liners Brasil and Argentina in 1958). Unfortunately, like other recent attempts by the US shipbuilding industry to compete on the international commercial market, the project collapsed. Two 72,000gt ships, with possible options, were ordered from Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula - better known as a warship builder - by American Classic Voyages. The plan was for them to operate around the Hawaiian islands in the Pacific Ocean; since these are US territory, the implications of the Jones Act had to be fulfilled, ie, construction had to be in the USA, and the ships had to fly the US flag. The liners were to be known as the Project America class.


Some internationally respected names were recruited to assist with the project.


These


included Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Deltamarin, from Finland, and Tillberg Design, from Sweden. The project also had the backing of the then US president, Bill Clinton, who had set up a National Shipbuilding Initiative to resurrect passenger ship construction in the USA and to reduce shipyard dependence on military contracts. Ingalls itself planned to invest US$130 million to upgrade systems and equipment to help build these giants. Nonetheless, the whole project fell apart, American Classic Voyages filed for bankruptcy,


TECHNICAL PARTICULARS PRIDE OF AMERICA


Length, oa.................................. 287.49m Length,bp................................... 259.10m Breadth, moulded.........................32.20m Depth, moulded to main deck......10.79m Draught.......................................... 8.00m Gross.......................................... 80,439gt Displacement..................... 45,400tonnes Steelweight......................... 17,300tonnes Deadweight................................ 8260dwt Fuel........................................ 2200tonnes Water ballast..........................2420tonnes Potable water......................... 1790tonnes Passengers.......................................2700 Crew....................................................900 Main engines (diesel-electric).............6 x Wärtsilä 8L46C


Output....................................6 x 8400kW Alternators............................... 6 x Alstom Output................................6 x 10,120kVA Azimuthing pods................. 2 x Kamewa/ Alstom Mermaid


Output..........2 x 12,500kW at 128rev/min Speed......................................22.00knots Joint classification...... Det Norske Veritas and American Bureau of Shipping


46


Pride of America: a liner for Hawaiian cruising A


N interesting ship completion in the middle of last year was that of cruise liner


Pride of America, which joined the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet in June last year, was originally ordered in the USA but was eventually completed by Lloyd Werft. At Bremerhaven, the hull was lengthened by insertion of a new 31.46m mid-body to increase the passenger capacity from 1900 to 2700.


and a half-built first ship with much equipment on order or delivered, was left in Pascagoula. Eventually, a saviour was found in Norwegian Cruise Line, which in 2002 acquired the hull, with a goal of resurrecting the Hawaiian operation. NCL was able to negotiate with the authorities over the Jones Act implications, and at the end of 2002 a contract was made with the leading German repairer and converter of cruise liners, Lloyd Werft, to complete the ship. This yard has already had experience of a similar operation: in 1999 it finished the construction, outfitted, and completed the hull of another NCL ship, Norwegian Sky, when that owner acquired the hull of Costa Olympia, work on which had been halted due to the bankruptcy of fellow German yard Bremer Vulkan (The Naval Architect May 1999, page 41).


The hull of the Ingalls liner was towed to Bremerhaven, and all equipment at Ingalls followed. Meanwhile, NCL had decided to lengthen the ship, from the original 256.03m to 287.49m, to boost the passenger complement from 1900 to 2700, and to add extra capacity to the primary machinery plant. A new mid-ship section was fabricated and inserted, and all went well; however, an unfortunate delay occurred during final outfitting when, during a storm, the hull developed a severe list while moored at the Lloyd Werft quay, and machinery spaces were flooded. Nevertheless, the ship was delivered in June 2005, and is now operating around the Hawaiian islands. To try and attract a younger generation of cruise passengers, NCL's Freestyle concept was adopted, allowing passengers to move around the ship as they wish. The interiors have still been conceived by Tillberg but in


association with the UK consultancy SMC Design. There are 15 decks in all, divided into seven vertical fire zones.


All public areas,


together with passenger and crew cabins, and service areas, are protected by a Marioff Hi- Fog water-mist fire extinguishing system. A pair of Sperry folding fins provides roll stabilisation. An American theme is retained throughout for the public rooms, featuring many of that vast country's regions; thus the Capitol atrium extends from deck 5 to deck 8, with Hawaii featuring in leisure facilities, and the SS America


library displays artefacts,


memorabilia, and a large-scale model of that 1930s liner. A theatre and show lounge on decks 4 to 6 is named Hollywood and has an Oscars theme. positioned aft.


Two main restaurants are


Propulsion power is provided by a diesel- electric arrangement centred on six (originally planned to be four) Wärtsilä 8L46C medium- speed engines (six x 8400kW); these drive 10,120kVA Alstom alternators, which supply current to a pair of Kamewa/Alstom Mermaid azimuthing pods. Each of these has a 12,500kW output. As part of its package, Wärtsilä also supplied resilient engine mountings, elastic shaft couplings, exhaust silencers, also fuel, lubricating oil, starting, and central cooling equipment. Provision has been made for the future fitting to the diesel engines of direct water injection or selective catalytic reduction (SCR) modules, should emissions regulations become even stricter than they are at present. More information on Pride of America can be found in our newly published annual Significant Ships of 2005.


THE NAVALARCHITECT FEBRUARY 2006


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