Securing its second ship was driven by high occupancy in 2008 and a strong repeat factor, giving rise to passengers wanting to see more places. With Orion sailing nearer to home – Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Antarctica – the 4,077gt Orion II is to sail further afield into South East Asia including the Russian Far East, Sabah and the Inland Sea of Japan. Searching for new destinations represents an exciting challenge for Ms Bratton. “We take a lot of time to do the scouting, setting up to operate. With a big ship you can look up ports and what they have. With a small ship it is about getting into a destination on the ground, walking around with depth sounders, finding out if we can develop an itinerary once the passengers have gone ashore. In Borneo, for example, we had a person on the ground for 70 days just to do the set up.” The company’s longest trip is a 29-night voyage to the Ross Sea in Antarctica. Orion can hold fuel, make water to cover needs, store fresh food and dry stores for 22 days and nights. The waste management system includes a refrigerated garbage room to hold garbage. Once beyond 60 degrees South nothing can be discharged overboard so everything has to be retained for about 14 days. Orion II is unable to be self-sufficient for as long as Orion, so its deployments are for a maximum of 14 days. The Polar Code, which is presently voluntary but is likely to become mandatory in the next few years, will not affect OEC. The company already has the required partially-enclosed lifeboats and has voluntarily put a lot of the necessary safety gear in place.
Vessel
Length, oa Beam
Draught
Gross tonnage Passengers Crew
Engine
Cruising speed
Builder
Built/refitted Zodiacs
Classification Hull
Ice class Registry
OEC FLEET Orion 103m
14.25m 3.82m 4,000 106 75
MaK, 8M25, 3,265hp
13 knots Cassens Shipyard 2003
10 heavy duty MK5
Lloyd’s Register Ice-reinforced
E3 (Germanischer Lloyd)
Bahamas
Orion II 88m
15.3m 4.5m 4,077 100 70
Man B&W diesel 2 x 2,520kW
13.5 knots
Cantieri Navale Ferrari
1991/2009 9 heavy duty MK5
Lloyd’s Register Ice-strengthened -
Malta
Burning HFO will no longer be permissible. “It will cost a lot more,” Ms Bratton says. The company only burns MGO on both ships
although Orion II can burn both. “When I saw the emissions from the ship’s inaugural voyage, I decided to switch over [to MGO]. But it costs us thousands and thousands more to burn.” In October 2011 the two 2,520kW MAN B&W
turbochargers were overhauled while the ship was in service between Singapore and Bangkok. Fifteen employees from MAN B&W joined the ship along with staff from V Ships Leisure, which
Orion II will sail to South East Asia, including the Russian Far East, Sabah and Japan
www.passengership.info Passenger Ship Technology I Spring 2012 I 35
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