Tag Archives: Damen

Damen Replaces Engine on Regal Princess

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Damen Replaces Engine on Regal Princess

Regal Princess in the historic port of Liverpool, photo credit Spacejunkie2 Flickr Account.

The Regal Princess had an engine block replacement during its recent stay at Damen Shiprepair in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

According to an update shared by the facility, the project was part of a repair operation that took place in late April.

“The Regal Princess is a Royal-class cruise ship that has four diesel generators. The main reason it came into our drydock is that it had an engine failure and needed it replaced,” said Alexander Stijlaart, project manager at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam.

“We facilitated this engine exchange together with our sister company, Damen Harbour & Voyage,” he added.

“They did all the preparation work before the ship came into drydock. They already went onboard a couple of weeks prior.”

One of three Princess ships that underwent drydocks earlier this year, the Regal Princess arrived at the Damen shipyard on April 25, 2025.

After undergoing the repairs, the 2014-built ship welcomed guests back on May 9, kicking off a summer program in Northern Europe.

“When the ship came into drydock, we had to execute the scope, which meant we had to pump water out of the dock, cut the shell plate out, cut the internal bulkhead out, then put the skidding tracks in, jack the engine up and out,” Stijlaart explained.

The shipyard then reversed the process to install the new engines before painting the hull, he continued.

According to Damen, the engine replacement is a rare event that only happens once or twice in a decade.

“We had to make sure that everything that was obstructing the path of the engine was cleared, so we removed all piping, pumps and walkways,” added Remco Trouerbach, project manager at Damen Shiprepair Harbour & Voyage.

“The unique part of the work that we did onboard before and after the drydock is that the vessel was still in operation and therefore passengers were onboard enjoying their lovely cruises around the world.”

Trouerbach also highlighted the collaboration with Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam, noting that the companies have an “easy cooperation.”

“We are basically colleagues with each other; therefore, issues you’re facing during the project can be easily worked out.”

Norwegian Bliss Completes Drydock in Europe

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Norwegian Bliss arriving into Southampton port, photo credit Spacejunkie2 Flickr account,

The Norwegian Bliss is currently returning to the United States following a drydock in Europe.

With the project done, the Norwegian Cruise Line vessel embarked on a trans-Atlantic crossing in England on Feb. 2, 2025.

Sailing from Southampton to Miami, the 13-night cruise is scheduled to make visits to destinations in Spain, France and Portugal before arriving in Florida.

The ship is then set to offer a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean before repositioning to the West Coast ahead of a summer deployment in Alaska and Canada.

As part of its two-week refurbishment project in Damen at Brest, the Norwegian Bliss underwent technical updates and routine maintenance, as well as class work.

The 2018-built ship also saw the creation of new public areas and venues onboard, including the Horizon Park.

Making its fleetwide debut onboard the Bliss, the new outdoor area serves as an entertainment and gathering space that offers lawn games, giant Jenga, reclining loungers for sunbathing and more.

The vessel underwent updates to its food and beverage offerings as well, with the expansion of two popular speciality dining restaurants: Cagney’s Steakhouse and Teppanyaki.

Palomar, which is described by Norwegian Cruise Line as an elevated seafood specialty dining venue, also made its debut on the ship.

After being first introduced on the Norwegian Prima in 2022, the restaurant replaced Ocean Blue onboard the Norwegian Bliss.

Other changes include updates to the vessel’s stateroom offerings, with the introduction of three-bedroom Premiere Owner’s Suites created in The Haven ship-within-a-ship complex.

These top-tier suites now include three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and a separate dining room, in addition to fully refurbished living areas, master bedrooms and outdoor balcony furnishings.

Similar to its sister ships, the Norwegian Encore and the Norwegian Joy, the Norwegian Bliss also saw part of its Observation Lounge being replaced with 26 new balcony cabins.

Damen: Growing Cruise Ship Drydocks Scheduled to 2030

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Damen is seeing growing project scopes and has ships scheduled up to 2030 according to the 2023 Drydock and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.

“We have exact dates up to 2030 already,” said Rogier van der Laan, global product manager of cruise maintenance and upgrade services at Damen.

“We are seeing bookings far out. There are three back-to-back ships scheduled in 2025, and one is an especially huge conversion,” van der Laan added.

Damen completed multiple projects in 2022 as well. Among 2022 highlights were the Emerald Princess drydocking in Rotterdam, the Seabourn Odyssey in Curacao as well as the Celebrity Xpedition, and the winter conversion of the Maasdam into the Renaissance for French start-up CFC.

The former Maasdam arrived at Damen’s Brest, France, facility in October, entered drydock in November and is scheduled to start sailing in the spring.

The yard will handle steelwork, maintenance and more, and help interior contractors with logistics, container shipments and more.

“With the supply chain problems, logistics can be a challenge. For the yard, it’s not a problem, but getting supplies from the manufacturers can be a big issue and the price is going up everywhere,” he said.

Overall, van der Laan said the outlook was “very good” for the company’s yards, with its European facilities looking after ships of any size and its Curacao drydock perfectly suited for smaller ships and expedition ships moving between the polar regions.

Across the industry, van der Laan said that Tier III updates for ships would be a trend in coming years, allowing them to sail in sensitive areas.

Planning has tightened up with changing budgets and project scopes from cruise customers, meaning five to six months out instead of a year for a project plan.

“But we are flexible. It’s always changing,” van der Laan said. “There can be change orders or unforeseen steelwork, and we can do that.”