Disney Brings Magic To The Seas
Disney's entrance as a cruise ship owner should have long-term positive benefits in raising even further the awareness of the cruise industry in North America. The company will come to market with two unique ships — Disney Magic (which was scheduled for delivery in the middle of this month) and Disney Wonder (scheduled for delivery in December) — which are designed to offer all of the creature comforts and amenities of a modern cruise liner, packed in a ship styled after the greatest cruise liners of the 20th century.
It should come as no surprise that a Disneybuilt ship offers a truly unique look and experience. The company's trademark is attention to detail and quality, and the resultant 85,000-gt Disney Magic is no exception. Created from a diverse team of maritime and non-maritime talent, the ship went from drawing board to reality at Italy's Fincantieri shipyard.
Tagged as a "modern classic" by theThe deal is understood to be one of the single largest transactions ever between the two countries. It reflects growing interest by Japanese industry in the eastern European market, and also demonstrates the broad sourcing policy pursued by PZM, the largest operator in the region. Deliveries of the Handysize Polish series are scheduled to start in early 1999. MES has also augmented its bulker workload with a 75,000-dwt Panamax unit to be built at Chiba for Naples-based Augustea Imprese. The newbuilding project an illustration of the Italian company's tendency in recent years to opt for Japanese construction calls for delivery of an 89,000-cu.-m. capacity bulker by the end of 1999. The latest generation of the open-hatch bulk carrier class is represented by 56,700- dwt Hoegh Morus. Constructed at the Tamano works for Leif Hoegh, the ship employs the successful concept first introduced in the early 1970s, and progressively refined and upscaled to reach the size and high level of transportation and handling efficiency embodied now in Hoegh Morus.Central to the design idea, th hatchway openings in the double hulled, Panamax-beam vessel havi the same dimensions as the holds facilitating the working of forestry goods such as lumber, paper rolls pulp and woodchips.
Another trademark of the type is the installation of two traveling gantry cranes on the upper deck, conferring cargo handling self-sufficiency across the range of freight transported.
Evergreen ... The Shipbuilder With the sale of Hayashikane Shipbuilding by the Taiyo Fishing Co. to the Evergreen Group several years ago, the Taiwan-based organization obtained a stake in the vibrant industry on Kyushu Island. Evergreen immediately increased the capital of the yard, which had originally traded as Taiyo Zosen, invested in new workshops and other facilities and raised the productivity of the premises.
The development policy has been vindicated by the increasing efficacy of the yard in Nagasaki, which has emerged as a primary source of feeder and intra-regional containership capacity for the parent group in Taipei. As Evergreen Heavy Industrial Corp. (EHIC), it has been charged with construction of 10 vessels of the 1,164-TEU A-class, and is set to take on an additional 10-ship program involving a new larger type, designated the P-class. The first three representatives of the A-class were commissioned by Evergreen, and all subsequent vessels in the series are to the account of the affiliated company Uniglory Marine Corporation. Following the scheduled delivery in April 1999 of Uni- Assure, EHIC plans to focus on the new 1,420-TEU P-class, with the first of the envisaged 10 for Uniglory expected in July 1999 and the last due in October 2001. The P-type will replace vessels of 860 to 960 TEU built in the 1970s and deployed on Uniglory's Asia service network. Earlier, it had been thought that EHIC would go forward into the next decade with a 2,000-TEU type, which had figured among fleet projects considered by the group.
Operator, the ship is distinctive with its twin funnels and stream-lined sculptural form which harkens memories of the great ships of the 1930s and 40s. "After closely studying the archetypes of classic vessels, as well as exploring wildly innovative original designs, we arrived at an identity that communicates a 'modern classic' ideal,respectful of an ancestral lineage but unmistakably contemporary," said Mike Reininger, vice president product development, Disney Cruise Line (DCL).
While the outside is an instant classic on sight, and "all-Disney" — by virtue of its dark hull, bold red funnels, yellow striping and lifeboats — the inside of the ship is state-of-the-art maritime, incorporating the latest products and systems from some of the world's premier ship equipment suppliers (please see Particulars list below). Disney's approach to building it's new fleet was to plan the ships, m detail, and then approach a shipyard to build the design. "Our design work was done far advance of the shipbuilding contract," said Arthur Rodney, DCL president.
The ship's exterior was researched and designed by Norway's Jjal R. Eide, one of the world's most recognized ship designers. He consulted with an industrial engineer from Frogdesign, a firm know for its package design for such clients as Acer and Macintosh, which shows how non-ship insights entered and affected the overall equation.Japan. Construction of a handysize bulker was also set in train at Nantong Ocean Ship Engineering Co., an enterprise founded by KHI and China Ocean Shipping Co.
(COSCO). Located 100-km upstream of Shanghai on the Yangtze, the Nantong yard will be the beneficiary of a newbuilding dock initially foreseen for vessels up to 160,000-dwt, and scheduled for completion by September 1998.
The Japanese group is also lending its know-how to a further joint venture with COSCO to manufacture azimuthing and tunnel thrusters, as well as other equipment in China. KHI's earnings from marine equipment produced in Japan are expected to amount to some Yen5 billion this year.
The plant at Wuhan is expected to become the principal source of supply for bow and stern thrusters, for
