Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1997)

Columbus is the first cruise ves- sel ordered by containership-ori- ented Conti, one of the leading firms providing equity finance for shipping through German KG (limited partnership) schemes.

Due to be delivered in June from

MTW Schiffswerft in Wismar, the high-grade vessel has been designed for 420 passengers and is due to make its debut cruise from

Germany to Norway's North Cape at the end of next month.

In its pre-German reunification guise as Mathias-Thesen Werft, the MTW yard had been a prolific builder of passengerships for the

USSR and other Eastern Bloc states up to the mid-1960s.

Columbus is the yard's first pur- pose-designed, pure cruise liner.

Columbus encapsulates a mega- yacht cruising culture, in terms of the interior styling and standard of facilities, and in the operational flexibility conferred by the hull design. Its moderate draft of 16.7 ft. (5.1 m) broadens the scope of itineraries by allowing navigation in estuaries and coastal waters.

In addition, hull strengthening to

Germanischer Lloyd Ice Class E2 requirements allows passage in polar regions with drifting ice.

Some two-thirds of the passenger complement is provided for in out- side cabins in the nine-deck design, and overall space per pas- senger is reportedly 25 percent greater than that of comparable vessels. Flanked by large rectan- gular windows overlooking the sea, spacious restaurant will cater to all passengers in one seating.

Columbus will boost Hapag-

Lloyd's cruise market presence beyond current cruise ships

Europa and Bremen. The compa- ny's travel business was expanded last year through the acquisition of

Hamburg firms Hanseatic Tours and Hanseatic Cruises.

New Fast Ferry Designs

Although the term "fast ferry" is associated with lightweight twin- hulled and high-speed monohull vessel types, two Greek companies have introduced advanced new designs of multi-purpose ferry applications which combine very fast service speeds with exception- ally high onboard facility stan- dards.

Iraklion-based Minoan Lines and rival Athenian firm Superfast

Ferries, associated with Attica

Enterprises, have brought a new era of speed and luxury to the trans-Adriatic traffic between

Greece and Italy using West

European-built tonnage. Both companies commissioned stylish new vessels into the trade in 1995, and both have followed up with contracts for further ships, and to a faster speed in the case of

Minoan Lines. The Cretan opera- tor's 31,000-gt Ikarus is expected to make 29 knots during trials, and offer a service speed of 26.5 knots for 1,500 passengers and up to 800 cars, or a mix of freight and cars.

A third ship in the series has been booked from Fosen Mek

Verksteder, in western Norway. To be named Pasiphae, the ship will be a sister to the 658-ft. (200-m)

Ikarus, employing a 44,130-kW, four-engine powerplant compared with the 33,100 kW installed in the first of the Fosen series, the 24-

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May, 1997

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