Tag Archives: Boudicca

Cruise ship Boudicca hit by engine room fire

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BoudiccaThe Fred Olsen cruise ship Boudicca is carrying 784 passengers and 356 crew

A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 people was left without power off Morocco after an engine room fire.

Holidaymakers on board the Boudicca were told to don life jackets and gather at emergency muster stations, according to the son of one passenger.

The fire at 04:00 BST left the ship “listing” and “in pitch black”, said Dave Tonkin, whose father is onboard.

Fred Olsen, the company which owns the ship, said it was now fully stable and had five engines running again.

Boudicca

Spokeswoman Rachael Jackson said Boudicca listed for “a short period” but was now stable and travelling again, although more slowly than normal.

“The fire was in the engine room, but has now been extinguished, and no guests or crew have been injured,” she said.

She said two main engines and three auxiliary engines were running, while two other engines were still being mended.

The ship will aim to arrive in Lanzarote, Spain, on Monday as planned, she added.

It currently has 784 passengers and 356 crew on board.

The Boudicca is one of four cruise liners owned by the UK-based, Norwegian-owned company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

The ship’s online locator currently shows it off the coast of Casablanca, Morocco. It left Cadiz, Spain, on Saturday.

It is not the first time the Boudicca has been in the news. Last year Fred Olsen paid £280,000 in compensation to 130 holidaymakers who suffered gastric illnesses on board between October 2009 and May 2010.

The ship was also hit in 2013 when 98 passengers contracted a vomiting bug.

Three Fred Olsen ships to be revamped before Christmas

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Three Fred Olsen ships to be revamped before ChristmasThree Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ ships – Black Watch, Braemar (pictured) and Balmoral – are to be refurbished before Christmas.

The vessels are all due to enter dry dock in Hamburg in November and December in preparation for the forthcoming winter cruise season.

Work has started with 804-passenger Black Watch ahead of a 14-night mystery cruise departing from Tilbury on November 15. An additional 27 balcony cabins are being built as part of the revamp.

The 929-passenger Braemar will arrive in Hamburg on November 12 for work prior to a three-night cruise to France from Southampton on November 20.

Balmoral’s dry dock work starts on December 9 with the 1,350-passenger ship leaving the shipyard for a two-night pre-Christmas sailing from Southampton on December 19.

The line’s managing director, Mike Rodwell, said: “We experience extremely high demand for balcony cabins across our fleet, and in particular on board the smaller-sized Black Watch, and our new balcony terrace cabins are an innovative response to this.

“We are also looking forward to being able to give guests the experience of fine coffee and chocolates on board Balmoral and Braemar, as they have already been enjoying on Boudicca and Black Watch.

“Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is pleased to be returning to Blohm+Voss for this important work. Balmoral and Braemar are both well-known to the Hamburg shipyard, as they both underwent mid-section extensions in 2007 and 2008 respectively.”

Boudicca Headed for Technical Drydock at Lloyd Werft

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Boudicca Headed for Technical Drydock at Lloyd Werft

ON 29 OCTOBER 2013.

On November 5, Boudicca will become the fourth Fred. Olsen ship to drydock at Lloyd Werft.

The British line has scheduled a quick six-day drydock in the German yard for the 28,000-ton ship for various technical work.

According to Managing Director of Lloyd Werft Rüdiger Pallentin successful drydocks of other Fred. Olsen vessels led to the ship owner’s decision to use Lloyd Werft again.

In 1982, when she was still called the Royal Viking Sky, she was lengthened by 28 meters at Lloyd Werft in co-operation with Seebeck Werft.

Since then, the 40 year old classic ship has changed names ten times before joining Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in 2005.

Extensive work is set to be carried out on all the ship’s seacocks along with below-surface hull coating, modification of and repairs to the piping system and stabiliser repairs.

The main item for the drydock, however, is the replacement of the ship’s bow thruster plant
and extensive repairs to the ship’s rudder.

“We will only be in a position to determine how extensive and complex that work is when the ship has been drydocked,” said Carl Ratjen, project manager.