‘Grand class’ type vessel 17 decks tall shelves visit after power failure 40km off Dublin
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.irishtimes.com
Cruise ship adrift with up to 4,500 aboard hit by engine failure
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Cruise shipbuilding versus ship refurbishments
Unlike the scheduled cruise ship refurbishments, major refits may include even a cruise ship lengthening, like in the case of Royal Caribbean ship Enchantment of the Seas lengthened in 2005 (see the photo below). The Enchantment ship lengthening cost ~ US$55 million, it was a process of cutting the ship in two and inserting a whole new 73 ft (22 m) 3,500 tons midsection, pre-built at the Aker Finnyards. The month-long dry-dock at the Keppel Verolme shipyards (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) resulted in adding 151 brand new cabins, a 50% bigger Pool Deck area, a new kids area, a teen center, several new bars and lounges, an expanded main dining room, a new specialty restaurant. This “refurbishment cost” record was recently beaten by the CCL line and the US$155 million Carnival Destiny refit 2013 producing a brand new ship named Carnival Sunshine!
The average cost of building a cruise ship is around US $450 for mid-sized vessels and up to $800 million for bigger cruise ships. These prices, along with the current economy status force many cruise lines to hold off from building new ships – the biggest expense of all. As a rule, all new cruise ships on order/currently under construction are by contracts signed years ago when the dollar had a good rate.
Cruise ship building prices are high enough to not meet the return requirement. Even the mighty Carnival Corporation (the largest cruise company in the world) puts its ship building plans on hold. Royal Caribbean is one of the few companies continuing to place orders for new ships – and not any ships, but the ever largest, the most innovative, the most expensive in the world. Still, most passenger ship lines are trying to keep their current fleet fresh and good looking. Two of the best examples are Holland America with its $450 million SOE program for ship renovations, and Carnival investing over $250 million to fully refit and refurbish 8 of its oldest vessels.
Costa Concordia – Four Years After The Tragedy
Story by; http://www.cruisediscuss.com/
January 13 marks the fourth year of the tragedy that took the life of 32 innocent cruise passengers after the Costa Concordia sunk off the coast of Italy.
The gigantic wreck of the cruise ship that had been lying on a rock off the island of Giglio is gone now. For the past seven months, the remains of the ship have been gradually dismantled and sent for recycling in a shipyard and a few days ago the huge support to keep the ship afloat were removed.
But the image of Concordia will remain for a long time in the history of the Tuscan island and the Italian Navy. The disaster that tore thirty-two lives, injured 157 will possibly stay forever in the mind of the survivors and the families that lost their loved ones.
As for the ship’s captain – Francesco Schettino, also known as Captain Coward – he was sentenced on 11 February 2015 to 16 years in prison, however, the sentence is not yet in effect and the ‘brave’ captain is giving interviews and cashing income from world-famous magazines such as GQ.
Even today many cruise ship passengers that survived the tragedy await for compensation for property left on board and lost when the ship sunk. Money in no way can reduce the grief but it was something that the cruise line owed to the people.
“Four years later Costa Crociere has yet to compensate the huge damage ” shared Mara Parmegiani, a journalist, writer and fashion expert that was on board the Concordia during the disaster. “The legal department had assured me that by the end of 2015 I would be notified how the refund will be processed but then no one contacted me further on. Besides my case, there are other outstanding of important value, like that of a jeweler. “
The fashion expert was on board with his precious collection of vintage clothes, as part of an Ambassodor of Fashion Made in Italy display. Glamorous dresses made by the founders of high fashion – the sisters Fontana Valentino, by Antonelli to Ferré, to Gattinoni, Egon Furstenberg and Gay Mattiolo were showcased.
A huge loss,but just from an economic standpoint, which in no case comparable to the psychological and emotional hardships that still disrupt the daily life with frequent panic attacks of the survivors. Among the most moving memories was the one of the small Daiani, the five-year old child whose little body was fished out a few days later by the rescuers.
“The memory comes back constantly before my eyes, I met her just before she died, she was in the arms of her dad on the deck packed with people; she looked at me, recognized me and gave me a pat. I was initially surprised, then I pulled out a little key ring with a teddy bear filled with rhinestones and I gave it to the girl who smiled at me and kissed me. I think Iit was her last smile “, one of the survivors shared.
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