Page 95: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1999)

Podded Propulsors Gain Wider Acceptance (Continued from page 76)

Parented by Kamewa, as the Swedish arm of the Vickers group, and electric drive specialist Cegelec, the system now has a rather broader ownership spread, as a result of the creation of the new

Vickers-Ulstein Marine organization and Alstom's takeover of Cegelec. In- house connections play a vital role in business development, as demonstrated by the current level of recourse to Mer- maid for newbuild orders at Chantiers de I'Atlantique, the primary shipbuild- ing entity within Alstom.

The latest contractual reference in

France calls for the delivery of two 8.5-

MW podded electric drive, azimuthing units for the $280 million, 46,000-gt

Seven Seas Mariner. It underscores the growing popularity of podded systems, which eliminate the need for long shaft- lines, rudders, rudder machinery, and stern thrusters, freeing large amounts of space onboard, and which provide much greater maneuverability and steering capability than the conventional alterna- tives.

Due to be ready for delivery at the beginning of 2001, Seven Seas Mariner will become the largest vessel operated by Radisson Seven Seas, in a project involving the participation of the Mona- co-based ship management company V.

Ships. The 360-cabin newbuild will become the industry's first all-balcony, all-suite cruise vessel. She testifies to the positive view of the cruise ship mar- ket held by the Minneapolis-based Carl- son Group, which plans to expand the

Seven Seas fleet by one vessel per annum over the next five years from 2000.

The first two Millennium-class 85,000-gt cruise ships booked with

Chantiers de I'Atlantique by Royal

Caribbean are intended for operation with its subsidiary Celebrity Cruises.

The project signals the introduction of gas turbine propulsion and the coges concept to the cruise market, and will employ two 19.5-MW Mermaid podded units.

The build program at St. Nazaire has been extended as a consequence of options on third and fourth Millennium being exercised recently by the Royal

Caribbean group. While the initial ships are expected in June 2000 and January 2001, deliveries of the second pair into

Celebrity's employ are slated for August 2001 and March 2002.

It is understood that the technical design of the latest additions to the workload will be identical to that of the first two vessels, which points to the likelihood of a further tranche of con- tracts for the Mermaid system before too long.

With the Radisson cruise ship deal, the

September, 1999 sales tally for Mermaid reached 18 units in a comparatively short period of time, while Royal Caribbean's new additions to its Millennium program hold out the prospect of orders for another four 19.5-

MW drives. Podded propulsion is also to be adopted for the two 48,000-gt cruise ships just ordered from Chantiers de I'Atlantique for operation with Festi- val Cruises of Greece. It is understood that consideration is being given both to

Mermaid and to a rival system.

Mermaid achieved its market break- through last year with a four-unit instal- lation on the Sedco Forex semi-sub- mersible drilling exploration platform

Sedco Express. Each of the rig's azimuthing pods is rated at 7-MW.

The Sedco Forex deal involved two such platforms, and the company went on to order a similar package of four pods for a third rig. The Mermaid propulsion arrangements form part of a package from Kamewa and Cegelec encompassing main distribution switch- boards, automation and dynamic posi- tioning systems. ^Scale Models

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