2009-11-17 - Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the largest and most spectacular cruise ship ever built, has completed its maiden voyage across a stormy Atlantic Ocean, driven by an energy-efficient power and propulsion system from ABB.
By
ABB Communications
The 5,400 passenger liner will undergo safety and health inspections before beginning a schedule of cruises in the Eastern Caribbean at the beginning of December.
Royal Caribbean’s newest vessel crossed the Atlantic last week and was delivered to its owners in Miami, in time for its first commercial Caribbean cruise in December. Weighing in at around 100,000 tons and costing an estimated $1.2 billion, the enormous ship posed a new set of challenges for its designers. Through close collaboration between the owners, RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines), the ship builders, STX Europe, and ABB, the project has succeeded, setting new standards in terms of maneuverability, comfort and fuel efficiency.
ABB's ACS 6000 variable-speed drives control the ship's Azipod propulsion motors, enhancing their energy efficiency.
Oasis of the Seas has 16 decks and rises 65 meters above the waterline. It has cinemas, restaurants, health clubs, an ice rink and even an open-air park, complete with sculptures and thousands of plants. Stood on end, bow to stern, the ship’s 360 meter length would dwarf New York’s Chrysler building.
Operating a ship of this size in busy ports and out at sea, where weather conditions are not always favorable, requires a special solution. ABB delivered a tailor-made electrical propulsion system, comprising three 20-megawatt (MW) Azipod propulsion units, to provide the additional reliability and manoeuvrability required. But ABB delivered more than just the propulsion units.
“We provided the generators, main switchboards, frequency converters, transformers and remote control units for the ship,” said Jarmo Orava, ABB’s Marine project manager for Oasis of the Seas. “Our ‘scope of supply’ document for the vessel ran to more than 70 pages.”
Installing the propulsion units was perhaps the greatest technical challenge for ABB – because of the additional Azipod unit, an entirely new software system had to be put in place – but the most time-consuming job was installing the electric cabling. There are 5,000 km of electric cables and about 100,000 electric points on the vessel.
“Oasis would not be possible without the control, flexibility and power the ABB Azipods provide.”
Captain William “Bill” Wright, Senior Vice President, Marine Operations RCCL.
Having worked with Royal Caribbean on 14 vessels and STX on 10 vessels in the past 10 years, ABB brought considerable expertise and experience to this demanding project.
In addition to superior manoeuvrability, ABB’s Azipods also deliver fuel efficiency, with savings of around 10-15 per cent compared to conventional shaft-line propulsion systems. This reduces fuel costs and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. The units are also far quieter and more compact than alternatives, allowing ship designers to utilize the machinery spaces more efficiently.
Originally developed in Finland by ABB in collaboration with Kvaerner Masas-Yards dockyards, Azipods have now been installed in 81 vessels, from cruise liners to icebreakers and drilling rigs. They have accumulated almost 5 million hours of operation. ABB is the world’s leading supplier of power and propulsion systems for the marine industry.
Three Azipod units have also been fitted on "Allure of the Seas," sister ship of the Oasis.