Page 44: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1997)

The Ship of Lights at Chantiers.

Name Splendour ofSbe Seas

Shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Owner Royal Caribean Cruises rnd.

Delivery March 19>

In a ceremony at Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St.

Nazaire, France, on March 15, 1996, Royal Caribbean Cruises

Ltd. (RCCL) Chairman and

CEO Richard Fain accepted delivery of Splendour of the

Seas, nicknamed The Ship Of

Lights. The 69,500-gt ship began its inaugural summer season of 12-night cruises to the

British Isles, Mediterranean,

Scandinavia and Russia on

March 31. On Nov. 1, Splendour crossed the Atlantic for a winter season of seven-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean from

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In an interview with MR I EN in mid-1996 Mr. Fain explained how the construction of new ships such as Splendour is key to the company's strategy for growing business, especially in

Europe. "We've made no seen of our goal of building ^ur

European base. Most of Jmild- ing market shares com^s from building new ships /or these markets," said Mr. 9ain.

Splendour kickafl off RCCL's introduction office new ships in five years. These new ships will reportedly ^ffer a combined total capacity of 7,900 passen- gers, 54 itineraries and 134 des- tinations worldwide. In addi- tion, RCCL has announced the commencement of a newbuild project known as Project Eagle, formulated in part by an 44 alliance with Mitsubishi^ although the first two sister- ships will be built by Kvaerner

Masa-Yards. These ships will be built to emulate the success of

Splendour of the Seas and the other Vision class ships.

Splendour of the Seas

Main Particulars >

Length 866.7 ft. (264.2/

Width 104.9 ft. tffm)

Draft 25.2 M7.7 m)

Tonnage y^69,500 gt

Speed ./. .. .24 knots

Passengers . . /.. 2,060

Classification society Norske Veritas

Order value $325 M

Builder ./. . .Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Owner >r. .Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Delivery d^re March 1996

Splendour of the Seas

Machinery r Main engines Cegelec

Generator engines . Wartsilo Diesel

Generators GEC Alsthom, producing 5 x 11,350 kW

Propellers ... .(2) Lips B.V., 4 blades

Thrusters (2) Brunvoll bowthrusters, 2 x 1,500 kW

Fin stabilizers (1) pair ACH, 16-cu-m

Engine control Norcontrol

Steering control . (2) Becker rudders, . .Frydenbo steering gears

Radar Sperry Marine

Lifeboats (10) Harding

Tenders (4) Harding

Liferafts (56) Viking

Waste management system Deerberg

Desalination equipment Brackett Green

Lifts (17) Schindler

Ballast control Norcontrol ^f3

Name Veendam

Shipyard Fincantieri

Owner Holland America Line

Delivery May 1996

In 1992, with the launch of

Statendam V,

Holland America Line (HAL) embarked on a new phase of ship- building that also included the debut of

Maasdam V in 1993 and Ryndam III in 1994. Veendam TV is the fourth ship in the

Statendam series, and the contract for its con- struction was signed with Fincantieri on

Dec. 10, 1993. This ship is the fourth to bear the same name in the 123-year history of

HAL, and its name originates from the „ name of a town tha grew up near a dan/in an area of lakes ana marshes in the north of Holland where peat or "veen" is produced. Vg/endam I was built in 1881 by Harland & Wolff in Belfast,

Ireland, weighed more than 4,000 gt, was powered by steam and sails to a speed oy 13 knots, carried a large number of emigrants from the

Netherlands to U.S., and eventually sank in the Atlantic.

Modern-day Veendam is a 719.6-ft. (219.3-m) ship, which carries 1,266 passengers and a crew of 602, and is propelled to a speed of 22 knots.

Commencement of steel cut- ting for Veendam TVs structure and unit fabrication both occurred in April 1994, followed by the official keel laying cere- mony in September of the same year. The ship was floated out from its building dock in Italy in June 1995, and the 55,451-gt

MS Veendam entered service on

May 25, 1996.

During the ship's inaugural cruises in 1996 and again in 1997, HAL passengers travel

Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, and from New tern Canada and Bermuda.

Mr XL/ "

M — \rd hfy, \ rw ciifsr vlgl r , -i r v*

Shipyard photo of Veenaam's propeller supports. the Eastern and Westei

York to New England, E<

Veendam Main Particulars/Machinery

Length \ 719.6 ft. (219.3 m)

Width 101 ft. (30.8 m)

Draft V 24.7 ft. (7.5 m)

Tonnage A. 54,451 gt

Speed V 22 knots

Passengers \ 1,266

Classification society \ Lloyd's Register

Order value \ $231 M

Builder Fincantieri

Ship's registry A. Bahamas

Delivery date .\. April 1996

Propulsion power (2) 12\W ABB motors with KaMeWa CP propellers

Side thrusters (3) ^760-kW KaMeWa, two bow, one stern

Joystick ) KaMeWa

Rudders (2) Flap Hinze

Diesel engines (5) Sulzer medium-speed