repair & refurbishment project
“committed to doing this.” Fuel is expensive, he pointed out, so if it can avoid using low-sulphur fuel, “it is a big win for us.” When asked about fitting scrubbers to only four of the six engines, he responded that “based on the [low] speed and itinerary it should be plenty,” but added that the company will continue to monitor the situation. He went on to say that the US Coast Guard and
Environmental Protection Agency are behind the project and have given Norwegian a waiver to burn less expensive heavy fuel oil (HFO), due to the scrubber installation. “They are willing to be flexible for up to two years. We can burn HFO for two years but hopefully, with the scrubbers in operation in the next few months, we will be cleaning HFO [emissions] to regulation within the year.” Under Marpol Annex VI, Regulation 4, ‘equivalents’ to low sulphur fuel are allowed in order to comply with the sulphur limits in ECAs. Bahamas registry-approved supplier Green Tech Marine’s (GTM) scrubber (under test on Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas) is being used by Norwegian as an alternative air emissions compliance method. This is just the beginning for the cruise operator; Sheehan said that the company will be installing scrubbers on the Breakaway-Plus ships currently on order and will be looking to retrofit other ships in the fleet as they go into drydock “if it makes sense.”
He added that the cost of the scrubber installation was about US$10 million but explained that for a ship being in an ECA in entirety as Pride of America is, “the investment made an awful lot of sense.” The GTM scrubbers are replacing the ship’s silencers and will clean the exhaust of four 8MW engines, in total 32MW, making it the biggest marine scrubber installation in the world as of today, according to GTM. The system will be a hybrid system, meaning that the vessel will be able to operate both in open loop as well as in closed loop modes. “The contract is another important step towards
The ship underwent hull upgrades while in drydock
convincing shipowners that [fitting] exhaust gas cleaning systems is a feasible and less expensive alternative to running on low sulphur fuel,” said Peter Strandberg, president and CEO of GTM. Due to the small size of the scrubbers, no valuable space for passengers or crew has had to be sacrificed.
During drydock a number of other technical changes
were made. Hull efficiencies were gained by upgrading the existing Sperry Marine Gyrofin stabilisers by modifying both fins and the software monitoring their operation. In addition, the hull was high-pressure water-washed and repainted with Hempel anti-fouling paint, AF Olympic HI-76600. Structural modifications were made on decks 5, 11 and 13, however no fire zones were affected and vertical zones remained intact. The photo and art galleries on deck five changed places and on deck 11 the previous outside Aloha Cafe, which was undercover, has been enclosed and become the Moderno. Deck 13’s former conference centre was transformed into more cabins. As far as equipment and machinery are concerned, new type Regotherm wheels and cooling coils have been installed to improve the efficiency of the existing Imtech HVAC system. Light fixtures have been changed on all outer decks to a
Interior renovations included the addition of 24 luxury suites and four studio staterooms, as well as updated decor
www.passengership.info
more energy-efficient type and all guest and crew cabin TVs have been replaced and upgraded to a more energy-efficient model supplied by Sole Video Solutions. When it comes to safety and security features, the cruise operator enhanced the CCTV and installed additional cameras throughout the ship while upgrading the entire existing installation. An overhaul and upgrade of the existing Marioff Hi- fog system’s isolation blocking valves took place. Finally, a complete removal of the existing phone system mainframe was implemented to improve the quality of communication at the approved regulatory requirement frequency. Improvements were also made to the ship’s propulsion, with both port and starboard propeller bearings in the Rolls- Royce Mermaid pods being removed and replaced with a more robust type. In addition, a complete upgrade of the existing Mermaid control system was taking place during the first month or so of the ship’s return to operation. Following drydock, Pride of America returned to its seven-day Hawaii itinerary departing every Saturday with overnight calls in Kahului (Maui) and Nawiliwili (Kauai) and day calls in Hilo and Kona (Hawaii) and an afternoon cruise past the Napali coast. PST
Passenger Ship Technology I 2nd Quarter 2013 I 79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88