Costa Toscana floated out at Meyer Turku shipyard.

Posted on 28 January, 2021 by Spacejunkie2

Costa Toscana has been designed to be a travelling 'smart city' (Image: Costa Cruises) — **Costa Toscana has been designed to be a travelling ‘smart city’ (Image: Costa Cruises)**

Costa Toscana is the third of five LNG-powered newbuilds ordered by Costa Group for its subsidiary lines. Two other vessels, Costa Smeralda and AIDAnova have already entered service. They are part of an expansion plan that includes seven new ships to be delivered to Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of more than €6Bn (US$7.27Bn).

Costa saidthe vessel has been designed to be a travelling ’smart city.’ The use of LNG is expected to eliminate sulphur dioxide emissions and reduce particulate matter into the atmosphere by over 90% while also lowering nitrogen oxide up to 85% and CO₂ emissions by up to 20%.

Desalinisation plants on board will process seawater directly to meet the vessel’s daily water supply requirements, and energy consumption will be reduced to a minimum via an intelligent energy efficiency system. In addition, 100% separate collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminium will be carried out onboard, as part of an integrated approach aimed at supporting circular economy projects.

The vessel’s design was curated by hospitality designer Adam D Tihany who worked with Milanese architects Dordoni Architetti, New York-based Jeffrey Beers International and cruise ship specialist Partner Ship Design in designing different areas of the ship. Costa Toscana features Italian-made furnishings, lighting, fabrics and accessories.

At the heart of the new flagship is the Colosseo – a three-deck-high, midship-located show lounge featuring large LED screens mounted on its walls and dome. The vessel features 2,600 cabins for its occupants and the Sea Terrace cabins offer a verandah with a view of the ocean.

Costa Cruises chief commercial officer and president of Costa Group Asia, Mario Zanetti said “Despite the current challenging scenario, Costa Group is confirming its investment in fleet expansion. We are confident in the recovery of our industry, and we are excited about the arrival of new ships like Costa Toscana, which embodies the elements we want to focus on for the future.”

Meyer Turku chief executive Tim Meyer said “The float-out is always a very special occasion for us shipbuilders, as the ship is finally set to its natural environment. As this is also the start of the final stage of shipbuilding, all the exciting colours, venues and features will start taking their final form. In the coming months it will be finalised at the pier and then tested and commissioned in Q3 for delivery. “

Once interior fittings have been completed, Costa Toscana will make its maiden voyage in Brazil in the 2021-22 cruise season departing Santos on 26 December 2021, with a week-long itinerary visiting Salvador and Ilhéus, before returning to Santos on 2 January 2022.

Meyer Turku Announces 450 Permanent Layoffs

Posted on 29 April, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

A cruise ship under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland. Photo: Meyer Turku

HELSINKI, April 28 (Reuters) – German shipyard Meyer Werft’s Finnish subsidiary on Tuesday started statutory talks to lay off up to 450 of its roughly 2,000 employees because of a hit to business from the coronavirus pandemic.

The shipyard, in Turku on Finland’s west coast, had initially started talks over temporary layoffs but said the market situation had now forced it to look for permanent cuts.

“These negotiations will include the permanent layoff of 450 people and another 900 are affected by other measures. These include temporary layoffs of different length, work time adjustments and other arrangements,” the company said in a statement.

Instead of ramping-up from one to two large ships delivered per year until 2023, the assumption is now that the Turku yard will build just one large cruise ship per year, it added.

“The corona pandemic has changed the situation unexpectedly and totally. We are facing the fact that the corona-caused pause in cruising requires to stretch the order book,” said Meyer Turku Chief Executive Jan Meyer. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Mark Potter)

Passenger ship flooring: LED, sustainability and safety

Posted on 23 April, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

Sika has launched a product line of artificial teak exterior floors constructed from resin

Recent cruise ship flooring products include new design features such as LED and an even greater green focus

New design features and an increased focus on safety and sustainability are some of the latest trends to be found within cruise ship and ferry flooring and decking.

Bolidt has added to its Bolideck range of ship deck covering solutions, with the first delivery of Bolideck LED leading to follow up orders from several owners.

Bolideck LED features integral LED lighting, and its first installation was on board 2,894-passenger capacity TUI Cruises vessel Mein Schiff 2.

Bolideck LED has been deployed in a bar and passenger access areas on Mein Schiff 2. It is also part of a ‘floor diamonds’ artwork on the ship, developed in partnership with ICArt and design studio SOFTlab.

The novel artwork floor installation required close co–operation between the shipyard Meyer Turku, Bolidt and SPT Finland, while the vessel was under construction at the Finnish yard. The project’s success depended on fitting the LED lighting with the right sequencing and at the optimum time in the production process to enable Bolidt to complete the striking flush decking finish.

“Feedback from passengers and crew on Mein Schiff 2 has been very positive,” says Bolidt maritime division director Jacco van Overbeek. “Following on from this initial installation, Bolideck LED has attracted a lot of interest within the market and has been specified for several additional cruise vessel projects, with installations due to take place over the coming year or so.”

He says Bolideck LED offers designers a high degree of flexibility as it is available in a wide range of different formats. This allows the client to integrate LED lighting within a larger deck space or deck design, or alternatively to create specific functional features, in sports courts or exits for example. Bolideck LED also allows deck lighting to be programmed to form different patterns or to vary the intensity of individual LEDs. Bolideck LED lighting can also be made invisible when turned off.

“With any number of lighting patterns possible, Bolideck LED brings additional freedom of expression for cruise ship interior designers. But it could also be used to enhance safety,” adds Mr van Overbeek. “As with all our products the important thing is it can be seamlessly integrated with other systems onboard.”

Along with Bolideck LED, Mein Schiff 2 features over 10,000 m2 of Bolidt products on board. Other products used include Bolideck Future Teak, Bolideck Select Soft and Bolideck Select Hard.

Bolideck LED was developed in-house at the company’s research and development centre. Mr Van Overbeek says “In these uncertain times we need innovation more than ever before and, in this regard, Bolidt has a unique track record that will help it and its partners in the maritime sector find a way forward.”

Gerflor has supplied its Streamo floorings to Brittany Ferries’ newbuild, Ultramar’s two latest fast ferries and MSC Grandiosa

Brittany Ferries, MSC, Ultramar

Elsewhere, Gerflor has supplied its Streamo floorings to cruise and ferry passengers, with its recent projects spanning the Mustay Karim Russian river cruise ship, the new LNG-powered ferry for Brittany ferries, Ultramar’s two latest fast ferries and MSC Grandiosa.

Gerflor product manager Karine Bouttier tells sister magazine Passenger Ship Interiors & Refurbishment Review “Their interiors will be enhanced with Streamo Karavel luxury vinyl tiles, offering a wide palette of wood and mineral designs but also with homogeneous floorings, available in more than 60 colours.”

Streamo is Gerflor’s dedicated range for marine IMO applications. This includes homogeneous floorings with patented surface treatment, decorative luxury vinyl tiles and a wide offering of additional finishes and accessories (skirtings, stair nosings etc). Gerflor can also supply wall protection, entrance matting and all the tools needed for optimal installation.

The company is expanding its products with a soon-to-launch IMO adhesive, a new non-directional homogeneous flooring and a rubber studded tile.

The sustainability trend within the passenger ship industry can also be seen in Gerflor’s processes. Ms Bouttier says “In line with our strong commitment to sustainable development and a focus on innovative solutions, Gerflor can supply pre–cut pieces for all crew cabins, enabling our customers to facilitate the installation process, save time and costs, and significantly minimise waste.”

She highlights how the company is forging links between onshore and maritime flooring. “Working in close co-operation with our customers and our internal group studio design, we try to bring more designs and reduce the frontiers between land-based buildings and the marine market to make the passengers and crew feel at home.”

Creating green solutions

Last year Sika launched a new visco-elastic technology, VEM X, used for damping structure-borne noise. Sikafloor Marine VEM X is a one-component polymer modified cementitious product that can be used instead of polyurethane-based products bringing identical product damping characteristics.

Using Sikafloor Marine VEM X also means delivery to the shipyard is easier as there are no dangerous goods to transfer. Polyurethane-based products must be delivered to special waste stations as they are a chemical product.

Sikafloor Marine VEM X is patented by Sika, which is in the process of phasing out its polyurethane–based PU-Red solution and replacing it.

Sika Services corporate head of marine Oscar Ovejero says “The idea was to create a green solution. Companies in the past used PU, but this is no longer welcome in the industry, so we started this project. What we have now is a one-component, elastic cementitious compound with an acoustic performance at the same level as before. The new product is faster to install and uses cheaper raw materials, benefiting the customer, and the waste is a paper bag and not metal.”

“We have provided a new solution in sustainability, price, installation and service.”

The company has also developed a complete product line of artificial teak exterior floors and interior decorative floors, constructed from resin. These have recently been installed on the passenger tourist ship Enhydra in San Francisco, carried out with Canada-headquartered A&A Installations, and have also been installed on cruise ships being built at Meyer Turku.

Mr Ovejero says “Our resin exterior artificial floors offer faster application than PVC or wood as there are no joints in between. The continuous waterproof membrane can also be used as a levelling compound.

He highlights the freedom of design and colours for the floors. “There is a lot of freedom in design in term of logos and cutting plane. We have 15 colours in total, and different colours can be combined.”

He says the colours have been tested by Sika for over 5,000 hours and the results show the “colours are stable, there are no surface cracks and it is easy to refresh the surface.”