Trans RINA, Vol 155, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan - Jun 2013 DESIGN REVIEW
THE IMPERIOUS 240m CRUISE LINER - A NEW LEVEL OF LUXURY FOR HNWI IN THE AMERICAN MARKET
S McCartan and J Edens, Coventry University, UK SUMMARY
The cruise industry has become one of the fastest growing tourism sectors. Growth in popularity has changed the luxury design meaning of cruising from its elitist beginnings into something more accessible and less exclusive. This design proposal challenges perceptions of exclusivity in the American cruise market by using Design-Driven Innovation (DDI) to create a 'technological epiphany', a new market between luxury cruising and superyacht charter. The design proposal consists of a main entertainment vessel (cruise liner) acting as a mothership, which transports SWATH floating apartments to various destination around the Caribbean. Where they are launched and later recovered, operating on the same principle as Dockwise yacht transporters. The SWATH floating apartments offer clients the freedom, luxury and privacy normally associated with superyachts. When docked with the mothership the floating apartments are fully integrated into the interior design of the mothership. The interior design proposals for both the mothership and floating apartments have been informed by the cultural specificity of luxury in the American market.
1. INTRODUCTION
In this design project, a DDI approach is taken through significant cultural research into American luxury and the cruise ship market. This is achieved through dialogue with industry and identification of a new elitist market sector for cruising, building on the emotional design heritage of the golden era of superliners and the current trends in global private members clubs. The exterior design form language of a superyacht was used to allude to the exclusivity and privacy of superyachts, as appose to the conventional form of a cruise ship, which emphasizes space efficiency for a large number of passenger. Green Envy was also a key theme in terms of technology innovation to reduce energy consumption, and the principle of using a large suite on a large shared vessel rather
potentially reducing the energy consumption per client on the vessel.
than the entirety of a smaller vessel, Playing on the conspicuous consumption
facet of American luxury the gold membership passengers have SWATH apartments which can detach from the mothership and float off into the sunset, while being viewed by the silver membership passengers from their suites on the upper decks. The SWATH apartments have the sense of freedom associated with a superyacht, fully serviced by a crew with comparable activities and panoramic views from all decks. Inspired by the suites of the Normandie, they even have a baby grand piano. Separation from the mothership is achieved through the innovation of
dockwise technology and an energy
efficient air pumping system for deballasting. The use of a magnetic docking systems allows them to seamlessly integrate back into the mothership. Where they have additional rooms in their docking station, to enhance the sense of luxury when docked.
For docking and launching the SWATH apartments electro-magnetic rod platforms have been utilised, each docking bay has an electro-magnetic rod platform as
©2013: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
shown on the right of Figure 1. In order to launch the SWATH apartments the ship submerges its hull by 5m and the docking bay doors then open. The magnetic rails then push the SWATH apartment to a safe distance from the ship before releasing. The SWATH apartments have an autopilot system but can be controlled manually by the crew from the sundeck. When docking the crew will request
the ship to submerge and manoeuvre the
SWATH apartment to the approximate location of the launch point. Then the autopilot system will locate the precise position using positional control and activate the magnetic rail system, which will be released. The SWATH apartments slots onto the rails and is reloaded into the docking bay.
The ship deballast
returns to normal draft. The use of a SWATH hull on the apartment allows this operation to be carried out
tanks and in
moderate sea conditions. Deballasting, requires low- pressure, oil-free air. For this purpose, Atlas Copco oil- free low pressure blowers were used. The adjustable low pressures avoid the ballast tanks being over pressurised and damaged, while the oil-free operation safeguards clean air. These blowers have already been successfully installed in several submersible applications, and outperform conventional ballast pumps with regard to efficiency in de-ballasting time.
In addition to propulsion efficiencies this design proposal reduces HVAC CO2 through the use of Phase Change Material (PCM). Air vents are incorporate above the bridge, as shown in Figure 2. Trox PCM machines are located behind these vents, and when the ship is in motion air is naturally forced into the vents. During the day, warm outside air is sucked in by the PCM storage unit, where it is cooled and introduced into the interior. This cooling process is effective until the previously solid PCM in the storage unit has liquefied as a result of the heat it has absorbed. At night, cold air is sucked in, the PCM loses heat which is transferred to the air and solidifies, it can then be used during the day to cool the
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