Millennium Class News

Richard Fain, the chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO of Celebrity Cruises—one of three brands in the Royal Caribbean family—announced a new category of ship that, among other transformational design moves, brings stateroom balconies indoors. Designed completely in 3-D, and featuring the work of A-list global architects and designers, the 2,918-guest Celebrity Edge aims to make discerning global travelers redefine how they experience the world and how intimate a vacation can be. “Celebrity Edge is one of the most exciting, innovative and transformational ships I have ever been involved with,” said Richard D. Fain.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE, OSE: RCL) and Rolls-Royce announced that they have reached a suitable and amicable resolution to the lawsuit regarding the Mermaid pod-propulsion system on Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium-class ships. When they were first designed and implemented, podded propulsion was a significant technological advance over traditional shaft propulsion, but it experienced a number of technical issues in the early years of use. However, working together, Royal Caribbean and Rolls-Royce have been successful in improving the reliability of the design. Mermaid pods are installed on four Celebrity ships – Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation.

Representing an important milestone for U.S. commercial shipbuilding, the delivery of the 141,740-dwt Polar Endeavour signaled the unfolding of a major new chapter of investment in the fleet dedicated to coastwise transportation of Alaskan crude oil. Giving first form to the Millennium concept, the tanker has been purpose-designed for trade in the world's most environmentally-sensitive waters. While Polar Tankers' main requirement of the Millennium-class is to ship crude to Puget Sound from the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal at Valdez, the series is also suited to the needs of the traffic to California and Hawaii. The program had been implemented in 1997…

Representing an important milestone for U.S. commercial shipbuilding, the delivery of the 141,740-dwt Polar Endeavour signaled the unfolding of a major new chapter of investment in the fleet dedicated to coastwise transportation of Alaskan crude oil. Giving first form to the Millennium concept, the tanker has been purpose-designed for trade in the world's most environmentally-sensitive waters. While Polar Tankers' main requirement of the Millennium-class is to ship crude to Puget Sound from the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal at Valdez, the series is also suited to the needs of the traffic to California and Hawaii. The program had been implemented in 1997…

GE Marine Engines has been supplying integrated propulsion systems for a variety of commercial and military marine customers for more than 25 years. GE's complete line of aeroderivative gas turbines includes the LM500 (6,000 hp), LM1600 (20,000 hp), the LM2500 (33,600 hp), the LM2500+ (40,500 hp) and the LM6000 (57,330 hp). For instance, the first gas turbine-powered fast ferry in Greece entered service in the summer of 2001. This Corsaire 14000-class monohull is powered by two GE LM2500+ gas turbines in a combined diesel and gas turbine (CODAG) arrangement with two diesel engines. The ship was built for operator Maritime Company of Levos (NEL), Piraeus, Greece, by Alstom Leroux Naval Shipyard in France.

Captain Victor Y. Goldberg will join Crowley Maritime Corporation’s subsidiary Marine Transport Corporation in Weehawken, N.J., as vice president, ship management effective April 2. He will report to Rockwell Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Marine Transport. Marine Transport is the tanker operating and ship management subsidiary of Crowley and is part of Crowley’s Contract Services segment. As vice president, ship management, Goldberg will manage contract operations, fleet operations, engineering and environmental safety and quality assurance. “We are pleased to welcome Vic to Marine Transport and the Crowley organization,” Smith said.

Today, we live in a new era of global maritime standards, with the advent of ISO, ISM, and STCW-95. The industry has embraced these standards as mechanisms to ensure that corporate policy, company operational procedures, and mariners sailing on the open seas are measured and certified. Old internal practices have been done away with, and the new standard within the industry is to certify compliance in companies and aboard ships. At the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI), it is our business to train professional mariners. Our curriculum has been structured to exceed the standards of STCW and to provide mariners with the most realistic and technically advanced training available.

Polar Tankers, Inc. is set to unveil its third state-of-the-art Endeavour Class double-hulled tanker, the POLAR DISCOVERY, during a christening ceremony on Saturday, April 13, at the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Avondale shipyard in New Orleans. Phillips Petroleum Company, parent of Polar Tankers, is building five Endeavour Class tankers. The contract cost of the POLAR DISCOVERY is valued at $168 million. The Endeavour Class tankers, also known as the Millennium Class, are the first crude-oil carriers being built for the Alaska trade in compliance with the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The first tanker, the POLAR ENDEAVOUR, arrived in Valdez, Alaska, on its maiden voyage in July 2001. The new POLAR DISCOVERY tanker will join the Polar Tankers fleet in 2003.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reported that its net income for the first quarter was $53 million, essentially the same as the first quarter of 2001. Earnings per share were $0.27 for the first quarter in both 2002 and 2001. Net income for the quarter was negatively impacted by $5 million in guest and travel agent related expenses due to the unanticipated drydock of two ships. Revenues for the first quarter of 2002 were up 10%, at $800 million compared to $727 million in 2001. The increase in revenues was due primarily to an increase in capacity, offset by a decline in yields (net revenues per available passenger cruise day). Yields were down seven percent for the first quarter of 2002 compared to the first quarter of 2001…

Given the sheer enormity and fluidity of the STCW-95 Code, it became abundantly apparent to MITAGS and to our trustee companies that organizations and mariners would need substantial assistance in complying with the Code. Therefore, we began a complete revision to our curriculum, which meant that we would have to commit substantial resources to assist in this effort. The Global Marine Distress Safety System (GMDSS) was an early example of the issues associated with the implementation of STCW-95 Code. Right from the beginning, MITAGS advocated meaningful GMDSS training curriculum standards. MITAGS understood that, in a distress situation, a mariner's best opportunity for survival would be a complete knowledge of GMDSS procedures.

Celebrity Cruises' Constellation, the fourth in the top-rated premium cruise line's Millennium-class fleet, yesterday set sail from Barcelona, Spain, on her maiden voyage. The new vessel brings the Celebrity fleet total to nine ships, with more than 16,000 berths. "Constellation completes Celebrity's series of sleek Millennium-class vessels designed to provide our guests with extraordinary vacation experiences," said Celebrity Cruises President Jack Williams. liners. France, one of the most revolutionary vessels of the 1920s. with unparalleled service and cuisine," said Williams.

To characterize the business of carrying oil aboard tankers of any size or route as stable — would be foolhardy at best. But as curious as the market's undulations may appear to those on the outside, it is in fact the market's instability that serves as stability. Owning and operating a fleet of petroleum carrying tankers has undoubtedly become a much more scrutinized and legislated endeavor than any time past. The eyes of the world, individual nations and even specific "environmentally sensitive" regions are on constant watch, prepared to strike with the broad sword of legal action in the unlikely event of an incident or catastrophe. The heightened sense of legal responsibility has undoubtedly changed, and will continue to shape the tanker business.

Celebrity Cruise Lines experienced its own "Night At The Oscars" by literally rolling out the red carpet this past June for its inaugural christening ceremony of its new "Millennium" while docked in Southampton, U.K. MR/EN was invited to Southampton to spend a few days onboard this technologically driven vessel before it departed for Amsterdam to begin its maiden voyage - a 14-day journey around Russia and the Baltics. Incorporating old-world style and classic ambiance with its Olympic Restaurant, which houses the original paneling from the R.M.S. Olympic — and delving into new technology by implementing a premiere gas turbine system in its engine room — Celebrity's newest vessel truly exemplifies a "bridge between two centuries…

Litton Avondale Industries laid the keel of M/V Polar Discovery on August 28 for Long Beach, Calif.-based Polar Discovery. Formally known as Arco Tankers, the company contracted Avondale to build this vessel, which is the last part to a three-part series of Millennium Class tankers that will transport crude oil from Alaska to the U.S. West Coast. The tanker, which is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter 2002, is the final chapter in this Millennium series that began with Polar Endeavour and Polar Resolution. Both vessels will enter the Alaskan trade upon their delivery in 2001. Measuring 895 x 152 x 86 ft. (272.6 x 46.2 x 26.3 m), the vessels' namesake is in honor of explorer Captain James Cook.

After evaluating several alternatives, Celebrity Cruises has decided to drydock its innovative gas turbine propelled ship, Millennium, reportedly at Newport News Shipbuilding this November to perform work on the vessel's stern hull design. Millennium initially made headlines within the cruise industry as the first ship to employ gas turbine propulsion - rather than the conventional diesel engines. This new breed of propulsion was to provide passengers with a quieter, more comfortable voyage with minimal vibration. As reported earlier, a vibration had been detected in certain areas of the ship under certain sea conditions. This vibration has been linked to the design of the stern hull.

As part of the drift of heavy industrial activity from Europe to the Far East, production of two-stroke diesel propulsion machinery has become the province of the leading national players in newbuild construction. However, close to the northern tip of Jutland, MAN B&W's Alpha Diesel division has restored a substantial Danish capability for low-speed engine manufacturing, to the extent that its Frederikshavn works has emerged as a bastion of European two-stroke production. The extension in the market reach of the already diversified plant, renowned for its integrated propulsion packages based on four-stroke drives, is a clear endorsement of the substantial investments made by MAN B&W in dedicated facilities in recent years. It is no less an expression of industrial and commercial will.

Litton Industries Inc. said Polar Tankers Inc. has exercised an option for a fourth double-hull crude oil carrier, valued at $197 million, to ship Alaskan crude oil. Under a contract awarded in 1997, Litton's Avondale Industries Inc. subsidiary has three 125,000 DWT crude oil carriers under construction. Delivery of the first ship is scheduled for January 2001. Long Beach, Calif.-based Polar Tankers, a subsidiary of Phillips Petroleum Co., Polar Tankers has an option with Litton Avondale for a fifth ship which could be exercised in the first quarter of calendar year 2001. The Millennium Class "next generation" tankers being built at Litton Avondale are the first new crude-oil carriers being built for the Alaskan trade in compliance with the Federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Kaparis met recently with MR/EN to discuss what he considers are the most important safety issues in cruise shipping today. By Regina P. Among the sketches of general arrangement drawings, and IMO and technical specifications, Celebrity's Demetrios Kaparis sums up his vision for a safe cruise ship fleet. Kaparis has expressed that mandatory safety training for all officers and crew with firefighting and medical responsibilities must be also be reinforced. He feels that these individuals must be certified in these areas according to IMO recommendations and flag administrations and he will strive to ensure that special training rooms and facilities will be available onboard all Celebrity newbuilds - steadfast in his quest for eternal vigilance.

Eastern seaboard operator Gypsum Transportation provided a beacon for the industry when it nominated a camshaft-less, electronically controlled Sulzer diesel engine for its 50,000-dwt-bulker newbuild project. Now, the interests behind a Mediterranean reefership scheme have also endorsed the concept, which represents a milestone in two-stroke technology, and signals a step change in large diesel engine operating flexibility. In one sense, MAN B&W stole a march on arch-rival Wärtsilä through the recent conversion at sea of a low-speed, MC-series propulsion engine to full electronic control. However, Wärtsilä's latest success in sealing contracts for two Sulzer engines configured from the outset for operation in electronic mode gives new commercial succour to the group's technological drive.

Celebrity Cruises has accepted delivery of Infinity, the newest addition to the premium cruise line's award-winning fleet. The 1,950-guest Infinity arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last night, on the heels of its transatlantic crossing from shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique, in St. Nazaire, France. Among the compelling elements of Celebrity's Infinity is the industry's first full conservatory at sea, created for Celebrity Cruises by prominent Paris-based floral designer Emilio Robba. Another hallmark of Celebrity's Infinity is an exclusive, historic maritime treasure. Accenting the interior of the ship's "SS United States" specialty restaurant are actual glass panels from the SS United States cruise ship…

Celebrity Cruise Lines' Millennium arrived at Newport News Shipbuilding on Tuesday for a 10-day period of work. The 91,000-ton vessel, which measures 965 x 106 ft. (294.1 x 32.3 m), will undergo repairs to its under-performing electric motor that operates one of the ship's two propulsion units and maintenance to various ship systems. Known as the premiere ship in the cruise industry to house smokeless gas turbine propulsion, Millennium, which is the first of the four-part Millennium Class of ships, made its debut in June 2000.

Celebrity Cruises Line's Century sets sail following a $55m makeover that began just five weeks ago. Designed to incorporate a variety of Celebrity's Millennium-class attributes, the revitalization of Century is the line's most extensive refurbishment to-date, and the largest cruise ship modification completed by Fincantieri's Palermo, Italy, shipyard. A total of 314 new verandas have been added to the ship - a first, for an existing cruise ship - along with 14 new suites, 10 new staterooms ranging from inside to veranda categories, an expanded number of ConciergeClass category staterooms, a new specialty restaurant, an expanded AquaSpa, and a series of features and amenities that typify the line's Millennium-class fleet.

Holding on to its 128-year -dam tradition, Holland America unveiled two new additions to its fleet — ms Zuiderdam and ms Oosterdam — at the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention. Measuring 951 ft. (289.8 m) each, the duo, which will mark the beginning of the five-ship Vista Class Series, will be constructed at Fincantieri for delivery in September 2002 (Zuiderdam), and July 2003 (Oosterdam). Representative of the South and East "Vista" points on the compass, the vessels embody technologically-advanced designs that will secure Holland America as a pioneer in the future of cruise ship design. At 85,000 tons each, the first two ships of Holland America Line's (HAL) Vista Class series…