The smell of the fresh paint

Luxury Cruise Ship EUROPA 2 Formally Christened

At around 19.00 hrs EUROPA 2 embarked on a twilight voyage – with the city of Hamburg as its backdrop – sailing to its launch site near the riverside district of Blankenese. Godmother Dana Schweiger officially gave the new ship her name at 21.36 hrs. “I christen you the EUROPA 2 and wish you and your crew good voyages and safe returns, and may there always be enough water beneath your keel,” said Dana Schweiger.

Dr Wolfgang Flägel, Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises: “This is a special moment for our company and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their commitment. I am certain that the EUROPA 2 with raise the bar in the luxury sector with its modern interpretation. We wish the ship and her crew safe journeys and enthusiastic passengers.”

Around 700 guests on board enjoyed a brilliant fireworks display to round off the ceremony in style. Afterwards, observing tradition, the godmother presented the neck of the bottle to EUROPA 2 Captain Friedrich Jan Akkermann. After the christening ceremony, the star act Dick Brave & the Backbeats created a party atmosphere with their rockabilly music.

The fully-booked 14-day maiden voyage departs on 11 May from Hamburg and will sail to Lisbon via Amsterdam, Antwerp, Honfleur, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bilbao and Leixoes (Porto). At the start of the voyage, the EUROPA 2 will cruise in the port with special on-board celebrations. Guests can enjoy the cruise through the lively Port of Hamburg, box seats at the famous Tugboat Ballet and other exclusive surprises. After the big fireworks display at the 824th HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY at around 22.30hrs, the EUROPA 2 will set off on its maiden voyage and leave Hamburg.

The EUROPA 2 is a modern and casual luxury ship, which does away with cruise traditions such as the captain’s dinner. With up to 516 guests,
EUROPA 2 provides the greatest space per passenger on a cruise ship anywhere in the world. The ship features exclusively suites with verandas and a minimum area of 28 square metres. Eight restaurants and six bars are dedicated to serving up culinary diversity and a large spa and fitness area accommodates the well-being trend on cruises. Its flexible route concept will appeal to professionals and families in the luxury sector in particular.

PGS Reveals the Ultimate Seismic Acquisition Platform

Safety, efficiency and productivity are the key features of the 24-streamer Ramform Titan which was named today at MHI yard in Nagasaki, Japan.
The new ship will be the most powerful and efficient marine seismic acquisition vessel ever and the widest ship in the world at the waterline. Safety and productivity have been the main focus points for her design. She is the first of four such vessels to be built in Japan.

The design dovetails advanced maritime technology to the imaging capabilities of the GeoStreamer® seismic acquisition technology. Her 70 meter broad stern is fully exploited with 24 streamer reels: 16 reels aligned abreast and 8 reels further forward. Increased work space and advanced equipment mean safer and even more robust operations.

For PGS and its clients, more rapid deployment and retrieval of equipment, as well as greater operational capacity will translate into faster completion of surveys and increased uptime in marginal weather. The period between major yard stays is also extended by 50%.
The Ramform Titan sets the new standard for seismic operations for the next 20 years.

Jon Erik Reinhardsen, President and CEO of PGS states in a comment: “The Ramform Titan takes seismic acquisition to a new level. We have combined the most sophisticated technology in the business, with the most powerful and most efficient vessel in the industry. Ramform Titan further strengthens our fleet and will give us a clear competitive edge for the next decade.”

Ramform Titan is equipped with 24 reels with capacity for 12 km streamers, which give her tremendous flexibility and redundancy for high capacity operations. She carries over 6000 tons of fuel and equipment. She will typically tow a network of several hundred thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 12 km2, equivalent to nearly 1500 soccer pitches, or 3.5 times Central Park.

Ramform Titan provides a safe and comfortable living and working environment for up to 80 crew members, with 60 single cabins, and 10 twin cabins for visitors, all with separate bathrooms.

The Scenic Jewel Cruise Ship Titanic II Cruise Ship

2013 will mark the start of operations of Scenic Cruise Line’s newest Jewel, the ‘Scenic Jewel.’ The cruise ship represents the cruise line’s latest fleet of river cruising vessels, commissioned to be built at a cost touching over US$ 10 million.Equipped with ultra-modern and highly deluxe amenities, each of these princely cruise vessels is expected to ply along the most exotic cruise spots and destinations across the world.

The operational cruise route of the Scenic Jewel ship will pass through the majestic sceneries of the Rhine, Danube and Main Rivers traversing from Amsterdam to Budapest.

This route follows along the heart of the European river cruising. It also thus enhances the appeal of the splendour of the Scenic Jewel quite considerably, making it one of the most awaited cruise ships for the year 2013.

Voyagers aboard the cruise ship can expect a plethora of luxurious facilities, rivalling a number of the oceanic cruise ships. Some of the star-studded amenities include:

• Specially designed lounge for sunning and relaxation
• Personalised crewing service and assistance in select decks and cabin suites
• Restaurants providing choicest selection of menus and cuisines
• Bistros and cafes providing gourmet experiences to the voyagers
• Panoramic and plush interior decorations to heighten the on board experience of the patrons
• Technological connectivity with highlights including High Definition (HD) TVs, Wi-Fi and Mac book computer systems
• Stoppages at several tourism locales along the intended cruise route with professional guiding escorts

The Scenic Jewel ship has been categorised to be a ‘Space Ship Class’ vessel. The ‘Space Ship Class’ is distinguished as being the pride of the Scenic Cruise Line, designed as a bid to revolutionise the river cruising experience. With a voyager capacity of almost 170 patrons, the over 440-feet long Scenic Jewel ship can be very well to present a successful continuation of this river cruising revolutionizing taking it forward from where her sister vessel Scenic Crystal left off.

World’s Largest Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Power Plant To Come Up in China

The planned construction of an OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) power plant in the Southern Chinese high seas sets the bar for all potential global OTEC construction and development. The power plant is intended to be a joint venture between two business giants, US-based engineering corporation Lockheed Martin and Hong Kong-based construction consortium Reignwood. The power plant will provide and sustain the energy requirements of the holiday resort township to be developed by the Reignwood consortium.

Once operational, the power plant will be able to generate up to at least 10 mega watts of energy, enough to sustain the energy requirements of a smaller metropolis.
The Chinese high seas were specifically chosen as a preferred location for the power plant. The warmness of the oceanic water in the tropics accounts for a greater degree of variation between the surface and sub-water temperatures which results in great enhanced workability for the power plant.
In addition to its comparatively higher energy generating capacity, the proposed OTEC power plant will also offer the following benefits:

• Consistent and round-the-clock production of energy without any stoppages or interruptions
• Substantial reduction in the emanating of noxious gases
• Substantial reduction in conventional fuel consumption costs

According to the engineering experts of the project, the energy generated through the power plant can also be transferable to other areas like desalination of water resources and providing fuel to electricity-driven automobiles. A highly ambitious venture in terms of its monetary investment, the OTEC power plant nevertheless promises to bring in significant yields to both investing parties.

OTEC Power Plant: Operational System

• Consisting of turbine systems placed above the surface of the water, the OTEC power plant will primarily involve boiling a liquid by channelizing the warm surface waters of the ocean
• The liquid utilised will be one having a comparative lower boiling point so as to offset faster boiling
• The next step would involve an equally rapid cooling of the thus boiled liquid passed through pipes to the under-water turbine systems positioned underwater
• Energy would be generated by this constant process of the fluid being boiled and cooled

OTEC Power Plant: Future Expectations

The utilisation of OTEC power plants has been considered as an alternative fuel generation system since the late 20th century.
The Chinese OTEC power plant however lays the foundation of its workability in the widest of sense even allowing for potential constructional plans to be discussed for OTEC power plants capable of generating to up to 100 mega watts of energy. If such power plants do come into existence, it will result in a massive sustaining of the global ecology by harnessing safer and surer methods of energy generation.

New Bulk Carrier “IS” TRI-STAR Delivered

Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. has newly developed 33,000M.T. D/W Type Bulk Carrier named “IS” TRI-STAR.
Our share of handy size bulk carrier is ranked among the top in the world.

Since 2010, over 30 vessels of “IS” BARI-STAR, 38,000M.T.D/W type bulk carrier have been delivered, and over 200 vessels of 28,000M.T. D/W type have been delivered since 1990. These vessels have been receiving higher reputation from domestic and overseas customers. These days, customers’ demand is varied more and more, and in order to satisfy such customers’ demand, we decided to put our newly developed 33,000M.T. D/W type bulk carrier “IS” TRI-STAR into the handy-size market.

“IS” stands for the capital letter of Imabari Shipbuilding. “TRI-STAR” is coined word of “three” (3) which comes from the figure of 33,000tons and “STAR”, of which denomination is intended to signify “three-star class”, and we sincerely wish “IS” TRI-STAR will be able to obtain customers’ highest reputation. She is the 4th and the newest type of our “IS” series following “IS” NEXTER, “IS” I-STAR and “IS” BARI-STAR.

The characteristics of the “IS” TRI-STAR are as follows:

• Common Structure Rule “CSR” is adopted, and higher general versatility and bigger hold capacity are secured.
• World top class fuel consumption efficiency brought to materialization by lesser hull resistance, fuel saving devices and electronically controlled main engine.
• Educational institutions offering qualitative educational programs
• Adequate deadweight on shallow draft without affecting fuel efficiency.
• Environmentally friendly double hull structure is adopted for F.O. tanks, which prevents oil spill due to hull damage.