cruise engineering blog

Onboard Experience

Secrets of cruise ship stability: unlocking the science behind upright sailing.

As a person with a deep passion for cruise ships, I am continuously amazed by the exceptional engineering that allows these massive vessels to stay balanced and move smoothly through the water. It truly is a marvel of science and technology, and right now, I’m excited to delve into and uncover the secrets behind the stability of cruise ships.

You see, these floating behemoths defy gravity and gracefully glide through the water, providing a luxurious and comfortable experience for thousands of guests. But how do they do it? Well, it all comes down to a delicate balance of buoyancy, hull design, and careful engineering considerations.

By understanding the principles of buoyancy and stability, as well as the intricacies of hull design, we can truly appreciate the science behind upright sailing. So, join me as we delve into the hidden world of cruise ship stability and uncover the fascinating secrets that keep these incredible vessels afloat.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Cruise ships stay afloat by having an average density less than that of air.
• The ship’s center of gravity is lower due to heavier machinery and fuel stores.
• The round-bottom hull shape helps the ship move smoothly through the water and increases stability.
• Ballast tanks allow for adjustments in stability during rough seas.

How do cruise ships stay afloat?

I know that cruise ships stay afloat by having an average density less than that of air, and the weight of the ship is balanced by the buoyancy force.

The effects of weather conditions on cruise ship stability are mitigated by the role of technology in maintaining cruise ship buoyancy. The ship’s center of gravity is kept low due to the heavier machinery and fuel stores, ensuring stability even in rough seas. Additionally, the round-bottom hull design enhances stability and minimizes drag, preventing swaying and rocking.

The ship’s density, determined by the materials it’s made of, plays a crucial role in its ability to float. Engineers carefully consider these factors during the design process to ensure the ship stays upright and afloat. Technology and design work hand in hand to maintain the buoyancy of cruise ships, allowing passengers to enjoy a smooth and stable sailing experience.

Principles of buoyancy and stability

Buoyancy and stability are essential principles that ensure a cruise ship stays afloat and upright. To achieve this, the ship’s center of gravity and weight distribution play a crucial role. By strategically placing heavier machinery and fuel stores lower in the ship, the center of gravity is lowered, enhancing stability. This prevents the ship from tipping over even when faced with external forces like wind.

Additionally, ballast tanks play an important role in maintaining the ship’s stability. These tanks can be filled or emptied to adjust the ship’s weight distribution, counteracting the effects of waves and rough seas. In rough conditions, the ballast tanks can be pumped to one side, effectively countering the forces acting on the ship and maintaining balance.

To provide a visual representation of these principles, here is a table summarizing the key points:

Understanding and implementing these principles, along with careful engineering and design considerations, ensure that cruise ships remain safe, stable, and able to navigate through various conditions.

Hull design and stability

Little did I know, the sleek and rounded hull of a cruise ship isn’t just for show, but actually serves a vital purpose in maintaining stability on the open seas.

The efficiency of round bottom hulls plays a crucial role in the ship’s ability to move smoothly through the water. The rounded edges of the hull increase stability and prevent swaying and rocking, minimizing the effects of rough seas and reducing seasickness.

Additionally, the round-bottom hull shape enhances stability by minimizing drag, allowing the ship to maintain its upright position even in windy conditions. While boats with v-shaped hulls may be faster, the design considerations for cruise ships prioritize stability and comfort for the passengers.

The combination of the round bottom hull and careful design choices ensures that the ship can navigate the seas with ease and maintain a steady course.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do ballast tanks help maintain a cruise ship’s stability.

Ballast tanks are essential for stability management on a cruise ship. By filling or emptying these tanks, the ship can adjust its weight distribution, counteract waves, and maintain balance during rough seas.

What factors contribute to the low center of gravity in cruise ships?

Factors contributing to the low center of gravity in cruise ships include the weight distribution of machinery and fuel stores, which helps maintain stability. This, combined with careful design considerations, ensures the ship remains upright and stable during its voyage.

How do cruise ships manage weights to stay upright?

To stay upright, cruise ships manage weights through managing cargo and utilizing stabilizing systems. This includes careful distribution of weight, utilizing ballast tanks, and optimizing the ship’s center of gravity.

What are some design considerations for mega cruise ships?

Design challenges for mega cruise ships include accommodating thousands of guests while maintaining stability. Safety measures, such as a low center of gravity, round-bottom hull shape, and ballast tanks, are implemented to ensure the ship stays upright during rough seas.

Can the shape of the hull affect a cruise ship’s stability in rough seas?

Yes, the shape of the hull can significantly impact a cruise ship’s stability in rough seas. A round-bottom hull shape enhances stability, minimizes drag, prevents swaying and rocking, and reduces seasickness.

Meet Asra, a talented and adventurous writer who infuses her passion for exploration into every word she writes. Asra’s love for storytelling and her insatiable curiosity about the world make her an invaluable asset to the Voyager Info team.

From a young age, Asra was drawn to the power of words and their ability to transport readers to far-off lands and magical realms. Her fascination with travel and cultures from around the globe fueled her desire to become a travel writer, and she set out on a journey to turn her dreams into reality.

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Meet Asra, a talented and adventurous writer who infuses her passion for exploration into every word she writes. Asra’s love for storytelling and her insatiable curiosity about the world make her an invaluable asset to the Voyager Info team. From a young age, Asra was drawn to the power of words and their ability to transport readers to far-off lands and magical realms. Her fascination with travel and cultures from around the globe fueled her desire to become a travel writer, and she set out on a journey to turn her dreams into reality.

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Regal princess: poolside fun, chocolate delights, and nightlife.

Upon stepping onto the magnificent Regal Princess, I am immediately captivated by the vast array of entertainment options at my disposal.

The poolside theater, boasting a screen 30% larger than other Princess ships, promises to immerse me in larger-than-life movie experiences. And as the sun sets, the pools transform into a mesmerizing watercolor fantasy, complete with dancing fountains and interactive light effects.

With the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked pastries wafting through the air, and the promise of indulging in chocolate delights crafted by renowned pastry chefs, the Regal Princess is a true haven for those with a sweet tooth.

But the excitement doesn’t end there; the ship also boasts vibrant nightlife options, including a pulsating dance club and elegant bars and theaters.

As I embark on this unforgettable journey, I am eager to explore the unique attractions this ship has to offer, such as the breathtaking SeaWalk and the tranquil Retreat Pool that transforms into a chic South Beach-style club at night.

Get ready to dive into a world of poolside fun, chocolate delights, and electrifying nightlife aboard the Regal Princess.

• Princess signature poolside theater with a 30% larger screen on Regal Princess
• Interactive sound and light effects with dancing fountains in the evening transformation of top deck pools into Princess WaterColor Fantasy
• Pastry Shop and Chocolate Journeys experience with freshly baked goodies and demonstrations by Princess pastry chefs, featuring renowned chocolatier Norman Love
• Club 6 as a lively dance club at night with a resident DJ and bartenders, and the elegant Piazza area hosting shows and other bars

Princess Poolside Theater: A Larger-than-Life Experience

I love how the Princess Poolside Theater on the Regal Princess offers a larger screen, making the movie experience larger-than-life. This enhanced movie experience is perfect for enjoying a film under the stars while lounging by the pool.

The Princess poolside theater features day and night showings of movies, concerts, and even sporting events. But what truly sets it apart are the WaterColor shows with live music. These shows are a feast for the senses, combining interactive sound and light effects with dancing fountains.

Imagine watching a movie or concert while being surrounded by a mesmerizing water and light display. It truly takes the entertainment to another level.

Whether you’re a movie lover or a music enthusiast, the Princess poolside theater is a must-visit on the Regal Princess.

WaterColor Fantasy: Immersive Poolside Entertainment

During the day and night, enjoy the immersive WaterColor Fantasy experience with interactive sound and light effects, dancing fountains, and captivating shows set to the tunes of Frank Sinatra or Michael Jackson.

As the sun sets, the poolside area comes alive with vibrant colors and enchanting music. The interactive fountain experience mesmerizes the audience, with water jets dancing in sync to the rhythm.

The sound effects create an immersive atmosphere, making you feel like you’ve stepped into a magical world.

The watercolor shows transport you to different realms, with each performance telling a unique story. From elegant ballet performances to energetic pop numbers, the shows cater to a variety of tastes and preferences.

Immerse yourself in the wonder of the WaterColor Fantasy experience, where art and entertainment blend seamlessly, leaving you awestruck and wanting more.

Indulge in Pastry Delights: The Hidden Corridor of Goodies

Nestled within the ship, a hidden corridor is filled with an array of freshly baked pastries and delectable treats. This hidden gem is a pastry shop extravaganza, offering a haven for those with a sweet tooth.

As you wander through the corridor, the aroma of warm croissants and French toast fills the air, tempting you to indulge in a decadent breakfast. For lunch or dinner, the pastry shop delights with vogue desserts that are as visually stunning as they are delicious.

Princess pastry chefs can be found conducting demonstrations, sharing their expertise and passion for baking. This hidden corridor is also part of the Chocolate Journeys experience, with renowned chocolatier Norman Love showcasing his delectable chocolates.

Whether you’re a pastry connoisseur or simply looking for a sweet treat, this hidden corridor of delights is a must-visit on the Regal Princess.

Chocolate Journeys: A Sweet Adventure on Regal Princess

As I explore the ship, I can’t resist the temptation of indulging in the decadent treats and demonstrations of the Chocolate Journeys experience on board.

The Chocolate Journeys program offers a sweet adventure for chocolate lovers like me. One of the highlights is the chocolate workshops where I can learn the art of chocolate making from the experts. Renowned chocolatier Norman Love’s creations are showcased during these workshops, and I am in awe of the intricate designs and flavors he creates.

From rich truffles to delicate bonbons, each bite is a burst of pure bliss. The demonstrations are not only informative but also interactive, allowing me to appreciate the craftsmanship behind these delectable treats.

The Chocolate Journeys experience on Regal Princess truly takes me on a journey of indulgence and delight.

Club 6: The Ultimate Nightlife Destination

I love the energetic atmosphere at Club 6, where the DJ keeps the dance floor alive with beloved hits and the bartenders mix up delicious cocktails.

Club 6: Top notch entertainment

The resident DJ creates a lively atmosphere with an incredible selection of dance hits.

The vibrant dance floor experience is unmatched, with people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to let loose and have a great time.

Vibrant dance floor experience

The energy is contagious as the crowd moves to the beat, their bodies pulsating with the music.

The colorful lights and state-of-the-art sound system enhance the overall experience, making it truly unforgettable.

Club 6 is the pulse of the night, where everyone comes to dance, socialize, and enjoy top-notch entertainment. It’s the perfect place to let go and immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere.

The DJ’s playlist is carefully curated to keep the energy high and the dance floor packed. The bartenders are masters of their craft, mixing up delicious cocktails that complement the lively ambiance. Whether you’re a seasoned dancer or just looking to have a good time, Club 6 offers a vibrant dance floor experience that will leave you wanting more.

Piazza Nightlife: Elegance and Excitement Combined

The Piazza comes alive at night with a vibrant and elegant atmosphere, offering a variety of bars and theaters hosting exciting shows.

As I step into the Piazza, I am immediately enveloped by the classy cocktails and vibrant atmosphere. The sound of live music fills the air, drawing me towards the dance floor frenzy.

The Piazza is bustling with energy as people gather to enjoy the night’s entertainment. The bars are adorned with elegant decor, and the bartenders skillfully craft delicious and creative cocktails. The live music sets the perfect mood, inviting everyone to let loose and dance the night away.

Whether you’re in the mood for a relaxing evening sipping classy cocktails or ready to hit the dance floor, the Piazza nightlife offers an unforgettable experience in a vibrant and lively setting.

SeaWalk: Walking on Air Above the Ocean

Walking along the SeaWalk, I am in awe of the breathtaking views of the ocean below. The SeaWalk, extending 28 feet beyond the edge of the ship, is a glass-paneled walkway that offers clear views of the vast expanse of water. It’s like walking on air above the ocean, feeling the gentle breeze and hearing the soothing sound of the waves. At night, the SeaWalk is illuminated, creating a funky walkway that leads past the SeaView Bar. This unique bar experience, not found on land, serves tropical cocktails with impressive bartending skills. As I sip on my drink, I can’t help but feel a sense of wonder and excitement, knowing that I am enjoying a drink while being surrounded by the beauty of the sea.

SeaView Bar: A Unique Bar Experience at Sea

Sipping on a tropical cocktail at the SeaView Bar, I can’t help but marvel at the unique bar experience and impressive bartending skills. The mixology magic happening behind the bar is truly captivating.

The atmosphere here is incredible, with ocean sunset vibes that transport you to a place of pure relaxation. As I sit here, enjoying my drink, I can’t help but notice the attention to detail in every aspect of the bar. From the beautifully crafted cocktails to the stunning views of the ocean through the glass-paneled walkway, everything about the SeaView Bar is designed to create an unforgettable experience.

The bartenders here are true artists, skillfully mixing ingredients to create drinks that are not only visually stunning but also bursting with flavor. This is a bar experience unlike any other, where you can truly indulge in mixology magic while surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of the ocean.

Retreat Pool: Your Oasis of Tranquility by Day

Lounging by the Retreat Pool during the day, I feel a sense of tranquility wash over me as I soak up the sun and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. The Retreat Pool is an oasis of calm, with its adults-only policy ensuring a serene and relaxing experience.

The poolside furniture is comfortable and inviting, perfect for lounging and unwinding. As I take in the surroundings, I notice the Retreat Bar nearby, offering a variety of refreshing drinks. But what catches my attention the most are the picnic basket options available.

The gourmet lunches provided are a delightful treat, with a range of delicious and satisfying options to choose from. It’s the perfect way to indulge in a delicious meal while enjoying the serenity of the Retreat Pool.

Night Sky Lounge: Unforgettable Nights at Sea

After a day of tranquil relaxation by the Retreat Pool, the night on the Regal Princess comes alive in the vibrant Night Sky Lounge.

As I enter the lounge, I am immediately captivated by the unforgettable entertainment and chic club atmosphere. The lounge transforms into a stylish South Beach-style club, complete with atmospheric pool and furniture lighting, glowing drinks, and a pulsating DJ.

The energy is contagious as guests dance the night away under the starry sky. The Night Sky Lounge is the perfect place to let loose and have a great time with friends or meet new people from around the world.

From beloved dance hits to trendy beats, the resident DJ keeps the party going all night long. With its stylish ambiance and lively entertainment, the Night Sky Lounge is an experience not to be missed on the Regal Princess.

Can Children Attend the Club 6 Dance Club at Night?

Yes, children are not allowed to attend the Club 6 dance club at night. The nightclub policy on the Regal Princess is for adults only, creating a lively atmosphere for dancing and enjoying cocktails.

Are There Any Vegetarian Options Available at the Princess Pastry Shop?

Yes, there are vegetarian treats available at the Princess pastry shop. They offer a variety of options like freshly baked croissants, French toast, and vogue desserts that are suitable for vegetarian guests.

Is There an Additional Cost for the Retreat Cabanas at the Retreat Pool?

Yes, there is an additional cost for the retreat cabanas at the retreat pool. As for children at the Club 6 dance club, it is an adults-only space, so children are not allowed.

Can Guests Bring Their Own Picnic Baskets to the Retreat Pool?

Yes, guests can bring their own picnic baskets to the retreat pool. They are welcome to enjoy their own food and have a relaxing meal by the pool.

What Types of Shows Are Typically Hosted in the Piazza Area?

The Piazza area hosts a variety of shows, including live music performances, theatrical productions, and dance shows. Poolside entertainment features movies, concerts, and sporting events shown on a larger screen.

Claire, a creative soul with an unquenchable thirst for storytelling, is an integral part of the Voyager Info team. As a dedicated writer, she weaves captivating narratives that transport readers to enchanting cruise destinations and beyond.

Claire’s love affair with writing began at an early age when she discovered the magic of words and their ability to craft worlds and emotions. Her innate curiosity led her to explore various literary genres, but it was travel writing that truly captured her heart. Drawing inspiration from her own globetrotting adventures and encounters with diverse cultures, Claire embarked on a journey to become a travel writer par excellence.

Ultimate World Cruise: Unforgettable Destinations and Luxurious Amenities

Ever since I can recall, I’ve harbored a deep desire to embark on the ultimate worldwide adventure, a voyage in which every new day reveals another breathtaking and extraordinary destination. Imagine steering through the Panama Canal, exploring the vibrant streets of Singapore, and being astonished by the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

This extraordinary journey offers not only unforgettable destinations but also luxurious amenities that ensure a truly indulgent experience. From first-class air transportation to onboard medical services, every detail has been carefully planned to make this the trip of a lifetime.

Join me as we set sail on this extraordinary adventure.

• The Ultimate World Cruise itinerary includes stops in various destinations around the world, such as the Caribbean, Mexico, San Francisco, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Australia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.
• The Pacific and Oceania destinations offer stunning landscapes, adventurous activities, pristine beaches, and overwater bungalows, providing endless opportunities for adventure and relaxation.
• The Australia and Southeast Asia stops allow travelers to explore the coast of Australia and experience the vibrant cultures of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, including Bali’s stunning beaches and ancient temples.
• The Middle East and Mediterranean highlights include crossing the Andaman Sea to India, stopping in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and other captivating destinations, and exploring ancient Egyptian temples and the culinary delights of the Mediterranean. Additionally, the cruise offers luxurious amenities such as first-class air transportation, door-to-door luggage service, a comprehensive visa package, and unlimited valet laundry and dry-cleaning services.

World Cruise Itinerary

I depart from Miami and embark on an incredible journey that takes me to Key West and the Caribbean, where I am greeted by crystal-clear waters and pristine beaches.

As the world cruise itinerary continues, I cross the iconic Panama Canal, marveling at the engineering marvel that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

In Mexico, I immerse myself in the vibrant culture and explore ancient ruins.

Next, I head west towards San Francisco, where I am captivated by the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and the city’s vibrant atmosphere.

But the adventure doesn’t stop there. The Pacific and Oceania await, offering breathtaking destinations like Hawaii, French Polynesia, and New Zealand.

From stunning landscapes to diverse cultures, this world cruise promises unforgettable experiences at every turn.

Pacific and Oceania Destinations

Visiting Hawaii and French Polynesia on a world cruise is a dream come true. The Pacific and Oceania destinations are like no other.

Hawaii, known for its stunning landscapes and adventurous spirit, offers endless opportunities for a Hawaii adventure. From hiking volcanoes to snorkeling in crystal-clear waters, there is never a dull moment.

And then there’s French Polynesia, a true paradise on earth. With its pristine white sand beaches, turquoise lagoons, and overwater bungalows, it’s hard not to fall in love with this tropical haven. Whether you’re exploring the vibrant coral reefs or simply relaxing on the beach, French Polynesia is the perfect place to unwind and soak up the sun.

These two destinations truly embody the magic and beauty of the Pacific and Oceania region.

Australia and Southeast Asia Stops

Exploring the coast of Australia and experiencing the vibrant cultures of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are some of the highlights of this incredible journey.

In Indonesia, attractions such as Bali’s stunning beaches and ancient temples await.

Singapore, known for its rich cultural heritage, offers a mix of Chinese, Malay, and Indian influences. The city-state’s diverse neighborhoods, like Chinatown and Little India, showcase its multiculturalism.

Malaysia entices with its bustling cities, lush rainforests, and delicious street food.

And in Thailand, the land of smiles, you can indulge in tropical paradises like Phuket and experience the grandeur of Bangkok’s temples.

Each destination along this world cruise offers a unique blend of history, natural beauty, and vibrant cultures that will leave you in awe.

Middle East and Mediterranean Highlights

Crossing the Andaman Sea to India and stopping in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and other captivating destinations, the Middle East and Mediterranean portion of the cruise promises a fascinating blend of history, culture, and breathtaking scenery.

As I sail through the crystal-clear waters of the Andaman Sea, I am mesmerized by its beauty and tranquility.

The rich history of the Middle East comes alive as I explore ancient Egyptian temples and marvel at the awe-inspiring pyramids. In Jordan, I am in awe of the ancient city of Petra, carved into the rose-red cliffs.

And the culinary delights of the Mediterranean are a feast for the senses. From the aromatic spices of Egypt to the fresh seafood of Greece, I indulge in a gastronomic journey like no other.

The Middle East and Mediterranean highlights truly offer an unforgettable experience.

First-class Air Transportation

Flying in first-class on this world cruise is an incredible experience, with luxurious amenities and top-notch service. From the moment I stepped onto the plane, I was enveloped in an atmosphere of opulence and comfort.

The spacious seats, upholstered in plush leather, provided ample room to stretch out and relax. The attentive flight attendants catered to my every need, offering a selection of gourmet meals and fine wines.

As I reclined in my seat, I marveled at the state-of-the-art entertainment system, which offered an array of movies, TV shows, and games to keep me entertained throughout the journey.

With luxury travel, premium services, and a level of comfort that surpassed my expectations, flying first-class on this world cruise truly made me feel like a VIP.

Door-to-door Luggage Service

After enjoying the luxury of first-class air transportation, the next aspect of the ultimate world cruise that truly adds convenience and peace of mind is the door-to-door luggage service. Imagine not having to worry about lugging heavy suitcases through airports or worrying about lost or damaged baggage. With this service, your luggage is handled with utmost care from the moment you leave your home until it reaches your stateroom onboard the cruise ship.

To illustrate the benefits of this hassle-free travel experience, let me present you with a table:

This door-to-door luggage service ensures that you can focus on enjoying your journey without any worries. It’s just one more way the ultimate world cruise provides an unforgettable and stress-free experience.

Comprehensive Visa Package

When it comes to the comprehensive visa package, I can rest assured knowing that all the necessary arrangements and paperwork will be taken care of for me.

Visa requirements and processing can often be overwhelming and time-consuming, but with this package, everything is handled seamlessly.

From gathering the required documents to submitting the application, the process is efficient and stress-free.

The experts handling the visa processing are well-versed in the requirements of each destination on the world cruise itinerary.

They ensure that all the necessary information is provided and that any potential issues are addressed promptly.

With their assistance, I can focus on preparing for the exciting journey ahead, knowing that my visa needs are in capable hands.

Unlimited Valet Laundry and Dry-cleaning

I love the convenience of having unlimited valet laundry and dry-cleaning services on board the cruise ship. It’s one of the many luxurious amenities that make this world cruise truly unforgettable. Here are four reasons why these laundry perks are so amazing:

Effortless Convenience: With unlimited valet laundry, I don’t have to worry about doing laundry myself or finding a laundromat in each port. I simply leave my dirty clothes in a bag outside my cabin, and they magically reappear clean and pressed.

Time-Saving: Instead of spending precious vacation time doing laundry, I can relax and enjoy all the incredible destinations on our itinerary.

Fresh and Crisp Clothing: The professional laundry and dry-cleaning services ensure that my clothes always look impeccable. I feel confident and polished knowing that my garments are being treated with the utmost care.

Pack Light: Knowing that I have unlimited laundry services, I can pack lighter and bring more variety in my wardrobe. I can indulge in stylish outfits without worrying about running out of clean clothes.

These unlimited laundry perks truly elevate the experience of this world cruise, providing luxurious clothing care that adds an extra layer of comfort and convenience.

Are Meals Included on the Cruise?

Yes, meals are included on the cruise. There are a variety of meal options available to cater to different dietary restrictions. From breakfast to dinner, you’ll enjoy delicious and satisfying meals throughout your journey.

Can I Bring My Own Alcohol on Board?

Yes, you can bring your own alcohol on board. However, it’s important to note that there may be restrictions on the amount and type of alcohol allowed. Make sure to check the alcohol policy and prohibited items list before your trip.

Is There a Dress Code for the Ship’s Restaurants?

Yes, there is a dress code for the ship’s restaurants. It is important to follow the dress code etiquette to ensure an enjoyable dining experience. Make sure to adhere to the restaurant reservation policies as well.

Are There Any Age Restrictions for Passengers?

Yes, there are age restrictions for passengers on the cruise. It is best to check with the cruise line for specific guidelines when it comes to traveling with children.

Can I Bring My Pet on the Cruise?

Unfortunately, pets are not allowed on the cruise. But don’t worry, there are plenty of pet-friendly accommodations available on land. Make sure to check airline pet policies if you plan to bring your furry friend along.

Celebrating the 2023 Ryder Cup: Costa Cruises Partners With Golf’s Finest

I’m thrilled to share the incredible news that Costa Cruises, the leading cruise line worldwide, has established a partnership with the prestigious 2023 Ryder Cup golf tournament.

As an official sponsor, Costa Cruises is celebrating this remarkable event by introducing the Cruise & Golf program. With two cruise itinerary packages and 15 international courses to choose from, golf enthusiasts can explore the Mediterranean while experiencing the thrill of playing on world-class courses.

This unique partnership allows you to play a different course every day, creating an unforgettable golfing adventure.

• Costa Cruises is an official sponsor of the 2023 Ryder Cup golf tournament.
• Costa Cruises has introduced a new Cruise & Golf program, offering two cruise itinerary packages and 15 international courses to choose from.
• Guests on board Costa Smeralda’s seven-day Mediterranean itinerary can play courses in Italy, France, and Spain, with the option to play a different course every day.
• Costa Cruises offers two packages for golfing cruisers: the Birdie package, which provides access to three courses, and the Eagle package, which offers access to four courses. Both packages include various perks and amenities.

The Ryder Cup: A Prestigious Golf Tournament

I’m excited to learn that the Ryder Cup is a prestigious golf tournament that involves 12-member teams from the United States and Europe. The tournament has a rich history, dating back to 1927. Originally, it was a competition between the United States and Great Britain, but in 1979, it expanded to include all of Europe.

The Ryder Cup format consists of four-ball, foursomes, and singles matches over three days. This unique format creates intense competition and incredible moments on the golf course.

Hosting the Ryder Cup is a significant event for the local economy. It brings in a large number of visitors, boosts tourism, and generates revenue for hotels, restaurants, and businesses in the host city. The impact is felt not only during the tournament but also in the long term as the city gains exposure and becomes a desirable destination for future events.

Costa Cruises: Official Sponsor of the 2023 Ryder Cup

Excited to be the official sponsor of the 2023 Ryder Cup, Costa Cruises is offering golf enthusiasts the opportunity to experience the tournament and explore the Mediterranean with their Cruise & Golf program.

As an official sponsor, Costa Cruises plays a significant role in supporting and promoting this prestigious golf event.

Through their Cruise & Golf program, Costa Cruises provides golfers with a unique and convenient way to enjoy the Ryder Cup while also indulging in a luxurious cruise experience.

The program offers two itinerary packages and a selection of 15 international courses, allowing guests to play different courses every day.

With perks like priority embarkation, equipment storage, private transfers, and exclusive onboard offers, the Cruise & Golf program ensures that golfers have all they need for a seamless and memorable experience.

Cruise & Golf Program: A Unique Partnership Celebration

Thrilled to be a part of the Cruise & Golf program, I can’t wait to experience the unique partnership celebration between Costa Cruises and the Ryder Cup.

This exclusive golfing opportunity is truly a golfing extravaganza. Guests on board Costa Smeralda’s Mediterranean itinerary can enjoy playing courses in Italy, France, and Spain. With a variety of courses to choose from, golfers can play a different course every day.

Costa Cruises offers a foro-in-uno experience, allowing golfers to explore the Mediterranean on excursions or relax on board. The program offers two packages, the Birdie package providing access to three courses and the Eagle package offering access to four courses. Both packages come with priority disembarkation and embarkation, equipment storage and insurance, and a welcome kit in the cabin.

It’s an incredible opportunity for golf enthusiasts to combine their love of golf with a luxurious cruise experience.

Golfing Opportunities on Costa Cruises: Explore the Mediterranean

While exploring the Mediterranean on a Costa Cruises vacation, golfers can choose from a variety of courses in Italy, France, and Spain. Here are three reasons why these golfing excursions in historic European cities offer exclusive access to top-rated golf courses on the Mediterranean:

Wide Range of Courses: Costa Cruises provides golfers with a range of options in iconic cities such as Rome, Savona, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and Marseille. With multiple courses available in each city, golfers can enjoy a diverse golfing experience.

Daily Variety: Guests can play a different course every day, ensuring a thrilling and varied golfing adventure throughout their cruise. This allows golfers to explore different landscapes and challenges, making their vacation truly memorable.

Unparalleled Convenience: Costa Cruises offers a seamless experience with their Cruise & Golf program. Golfers can enjoy exclusive perks such as priority disembarkation and embarkation, private transfers to and from the golf courses, equipment storage, and insurance. This ensures that golfers can focus on their game while enjoying the beauty of the Mediterranean.

With Costa Cruises, golfers can combine their passion for golf with a luxurious Mediterranean vacation, creating an unforgettable experience.

Birdie and Eagle Packages: Exquisite Golf Experiences

I can choose between the Birdie and Eagle packages to have an exquisite golf experience during my Costa Cruises vacation.

Costa Cruises offers a wide selection of golf courses for guests to enjoy. With the Birdie package, I will have access to three courses during my cruise. This package includes exclusive amenities such as priority disembarkation and embarkation, equipment storage and insurance, and a welcome kit in my cabin. I will also receive a snack basket, private transfers to and from the golf courses, and a golf kit. Additionally, I will have early breakfast times, the choice of dinner time, reserved seating in the restaurant, and special onboard offers.

For those looking for more golfing opportunities, the Eagle package offers access to four courses during the cruise, with similar exclusive amenities.

With these packages, I can have a truly exceptional golf experience while enjoying all the benefits of a Costa Cruises vacation.

How Long Has Costa Cruises Been a Sponsor of the Ryder Cup?

Costa Cruises has been a sponsor of the Ryder Cup for several years. Through this partnership, they offer golfers exclusive benefits such as access to multiple courses, priority embarkation, equipment storage, and more.

What Are the Specific Dates of the 2023 Ryder Cup Tournament?

The specific dates of the 2023 Ryder Cup tournament are not provided in the given context.

How Many International Courses Are Included in the Cruise & Golf Program?

There are 15 international golf course options included in Costa Cruises’ Cruise & Golf program. It’s a great opportunity to play different courses every day and explore various international golf destinations.

Can Golfers Play the Same Course Multiple Times During Their Cruise?

Yes, golfers can play different courses every day during their Costa Cruises golfing itinerary. There are multiple international courses available, providing golf course availability and the opportunity to explore various destinations.

How Many Golf Courses Are Available in Rome for Costa Cruises Guests?

There are multiple golf course options in Rome for Costa Cruises guests. They can choose from five courses in Rome and also have the opportunity to play courses in other destinations like France and Spain.

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Cruise is going to start charging for rides. Meet the 9 engineers from GM's self-driving bringing the first robotaxi service to the masses.

• Cruise's engineering team survived a time of uncertainty with a "resilience mindset."
• The self-driving startup hopes to pounce on an $8 trillion market for AVs.
• Cruise launched the first fully driverless ride in San Francisco earlier this year.

Cruise , the self-driving startup owned by General Motors , will be the first driverless taxi provider to charge a rare for its rides, propelling forward its plans to offer driverless taxi rides to the masses while many of its competitors have either moved away from driverless cars or pivoted to more commercial applications like trucking. 

At the start of this year, Cruise began piloting fully driverless taxis — without a safety driver behind the wheel — in a major urban environment for members of the public. After about four months of a nighttime pilot program on the streets of San Francisco, Cruise in June won approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to charge for its driverless rides.

The company is offering driverless rides in western San Francisco through the app its product-engineering team built. Cruise is currently using its Chevrolet Bolt-based autonomous vehicles; the Cruise Origin, the startup's first AV built from the ground up, remains in development.

The team behind this achievement has been working quietly for the past several years as investors and other engineers lost hope in self-driving technology. A pedestrian death in 2018 caused by an Uber vehicle in self-driving mode spooked many investors and brought a new level of scrutiny to the space. 

In this period, many startups ran out of money and hit the wall on technological development, thinning a herd of self-driving players that once powered the automotive industry's hype machine. With competition cut down, Cruise is hoping it can pounce on what its leaders say is an $8 trillion market waiting in the robotaxi and driverless-delivery space.

"One of the biggest shifts for us in the last few years is to have this resilience mindset," Mo Elshenawy, Cruise's executive vice president of engineering, said. 

Elshenawy said it was important to be honest with his team about challenges and roadblocks while creating an environment where engineers can "embrace failure." He wanted his engineers to take risks without losing sight of the larger mission to safely put driverless cars on the road.

The quality of talent that startups attract is a major contributing factor in leading the autonomous-vehicle space, according to automotive-industry experts. In the past several years, Cruise has grown its team from around 40 employees, when GM acquired it in 2016, to 1,800 at the start of this year.

Here are the nine power players at Cruise leading the startup's charge to bring driverless rides to the masses.

Mo Elshenawy, executive vice president of engineering

Elshenawy heads the biggest team at Cruise and oversees the work of some 1,700 engineers tasked with developing every aspect of self-driving tech. The expertise on his team ranges from AI, robotics, and product engineering to mapping, safety, and hardware.

This diverse team of engineers recently celebrated the launch of Cruise's pilot driverless-ride service in San Francisco, a major win for a group that had worked tirelessly for years, Elshenawy said.

"There's only so much inspiration you can pump into your team yourself," Elshenawy said. "It's very different when you can get into this car at the end of the day and see all of your hard work."

Prior to Cruise, Elshenawy led global technologies for Amazon's ReCommerce platform, warehouse deals, and liquidations. He has also served as cofounder and CTO for three tech startups, including a cloud-based financial-services-development platform that top financial institutions use.

Tim Piastrelli, vice president of security

A strong web of product security, information technology, and threat detection and response are the keys to Cruise's plans to manufacture a purpose-built autonomous vehicle. Piastrelli and his team are constantly securing Cruise's technology via a battery of tests and simulations designed to identify potential attacks and sources of vulnerability.

With 15 years of experience in the field, Piastrelli said he was able to assemble a dream team of sorts for Cruise's security division that includes the hackers who remotely hijacked a Jeep Cherokee in a 2015 viral video for Wired.

"My primary focus initially was to pull in a few of the rock stars from my network," Piastrelli said. "As I built my specific threat models, I was able to articulate to leadership what specific people we needed to hire."

Before joining Cruise, Piastrelli headed security research at the software startup Mulesoft, where he also helped it complete its IPO.

Cristina Scheau, director of perception

Cruise's perception team builds the technology that "sees" the road and other obstacles around a self-driving car. As leader of the perception team, Scheau has overseen millions of miles in real-world and simulation testing to improve the way Cruise's vehicles navigate the streets of San Francisco.

Scheau joined Cruise two years ago, and since then she has spent much of her time recruiting and retaining talent in the areas of applied science, research, and engineering. Before joining Cruise, Scheau was the director of engineering at Facebook.

Wei Luo, vice president of strategy, product, and operations

Luo is an executive focused on the big picture for Cruise as it moves closer to commercialization. Some of her work includes collaborating with leadership to set clear long-term goals for scaling and expanding the business while helping teams across the company work efficiently to meet those marks.

Luo oversees several departments within Cruise, including the teams tasked with some of the company's most critical programs: ride-hailing, delivery, and vehicle-build programs. 

Prior to Cruise, Luo served as COO of DeepMap, a software company, where she worked on the self-driving-mapping company's go-to market strategy.

Bhavini Soneji, vice president of product engineering

Soneji oversees work on Cruise's two main products: the ride-hailing app and the driverless fleet. She drives the strategy and execution for these two customer-facing products while also leading a team that is building the mapping platforms to guide the robotaxis on the road.

Prior to Cruise, Soneji was the vice president of engineering and technology at Headspace, a therapy app, and led teams at Heal, Snapchat, and Microsoft.

Hussein Mehanna, vice president of AI and machine learning

Cruise has spent years amassing millions of miles of on-road and simulated testing for its driverless cars. Mehanna leads the team that leverages the datasets from those tests to build artificial-intelligence models that can teach Cruise's fleet how to drive more like a human on unpredictable urban roads.

Prior to joining Cruise in 2019, Mehanna worked as an engineer with some of the biggest names in tech, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. 

Vinoj Kumar, vice president of infrastructure

Kumar leads the team working on the infrastructure that underpins Cruise's entire fleet of autonomous vehicles. Kumar and his engineers have taken a "cloud-native" approach to Cruise's tech infrastructure, which means that the software has been designed for use in the cloud from the very beginning of development.

Kumar spent a decade at Google working in technical infrastructure before joining Cruise last year.

Rob Flenniken, senior director of engineering and embedded systems

Flenniken is one of the newest members of the Cruise engineering team, joining last month to lead the embedded-software engineering work the Cruise robotics team performs. Flenniken oversees a team working closely with hardware engineers to design and build the sensors, networks, and computer platforms that power the Cruise fleet.

Flenniken came to Cruise in April 2022 with more than 20 years of experience in the consumer-electronics industry, most recently at Amazon, where he led device-software teams to build the first Alexa device, the Echo.

Louise Zhang, vice president of safety and systems

With Cruise beginning to offer rides to the masses, Zhang has the critical task of overseeing safety and validation of the startup's driverless fleet. She has an instrumental role in every phase of development for Cruise's vehicles from design to testing to commercial deployment.

Zhang's team is working on both future and current Cruise vehicles, validating autonomous-driving systems and developing operations-safety guardrails for deployment.

Zhang came to Cruise in 2020 with a strong background in vehicle safety. She was previously the senior director of engineering at Lucid Motors, an EV startup, where she oversaw vehicle safety and regulatory compliance. Prior to that, Zhang was head of Tesla's safety team.

• Main content

Cruise Engineers Balance Safety With Experimentation in the Pursuit of Autonomous Vehicles

On the surface, the concept of a self-driving car seems deceptively simple. But after a decade of splashy announcements and enormous investments from Silicon Valley’s most influential organizations, few people understand the dichotomy between the idea and its execution better than Mohamed Elshenawy. As senior vice president of engineering teams at autonomous vehicle company Cruise, he spends his working life neck-deep in the challenges that come from building a self-driving car.  

“One of the common questions I get asked by friends and family is, ‘Why does it take so long to solve the self-driving problem?’” 

The answer? 

“We aren’t teaching a human brain, which has already evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to accurately perceive the world and predict actions within their surroundings. We are essentially building an AV brain that can do all that without stagnating or making silly mistakes or getting tired, bored or distracted. In order to do that, we’re compressing hundreds of thousands of years of human intelligence into just a few years.”

Cruise Background

While some self-driving contenders have opted to test their technology on quieter roads in the hopes of solving “easier” driving conditions before venturing into complex urban driving, Cruise has jumped straight into the deep end — in this case, the hilly streets of its hometown. The theory goes that once you’ve solved city driving — with its construction sites, pedestrians, cyclists and haphazard traffic — it will be easier to scale out and expand the service elsewhere. 

To support its engineering work, Cruise has organized its teams around the concept of psychological safety.

“We have to be willing to embrace risks within our safety bounds, different perspectives and new ways of doing things,” Elshenawy explained. “This experimentation mindset is part of a new paradigm shift we’re seeing toward ML-native companies, ones that are not just optimized by ML but defined by it.”

To learn more about the organizational architecture that provides space for innovation within its strict safety standards, Built In asked Elshenawy to explain what psychological safety means in practice.

Why is psychological safety especially important for an autonomous vehicle company like Cruise?

We are trying to do something that’s never been done before, and that inherently means this is an applied experiment in many ways. Psychological safety allows us to rewrite how we think about failure and makes room for innovation and individual growth — something that is core to Cruise’s value proposition — allowing people to unlock their full potential, speak up, raise flags without fear, effectively experiment, take on calculated risks and, ultimately, improve.

Taking a calculated risk that doesn’t pan out or having to pivot a project because it’s not yielding the results you were looking for is not a failure; it’s an opportunity to learn. The reality is we should have more “failed” experiments than successful ones, and my leadership team and I are committed to providing the psychologically safe environment and feedback mechanisms necessary to learn fast and fail forward, emerging from each experiment with valuable lessons that lead us to our next big win. As we continue to grow, I hope this culture of experimentation and innovation helps us maintain a startup spirit.

How does your organizational structure reflect and reinforce Cruise’s emphasis on psychological safety?

The organization is based on principles of continuous improvement, autonomy, simplicity and respect in order to facilitate growth, development and innovation for every individual and the team as a whole. My ultimate goal is to foster an innovation and learning mindset within my team, based on an organizational structure that is nimble enough to support effective experimentation yet disciplined in mapping against our goals.

Psychological safety is at the root of this. Every member of our team needs to feel empowered to experiment, speak up, ask for help or feedback and make bold moves within our safety guidelines. Vertical integration of teams and tools across the organization form functional units within groups that make iteration and quick innovation more seamless. We’ve also been deliberate in keeping the organization flat in order to allow information and decisions to travel faster in both directions, including why certain decisions were made in the first place. Not only does this give us the agility and speed to achieve our mission, but it also creates a respectful and inclusive culture. A great example of this is our quarterly planning and review sessions, which are open to all team members as well as shared externally to the company in order to ensure alignment, make sure voices are heard and provide folks with an opportunity to influence how we, as a team, operate.

What’s an example of psychological safety in action?  

Beyond fostering a more productive working environment, psychological safety also quite literally translates into our on-road safety and performance. At the foundation of our iterative release process are mechanisms for feedback and reporting, reviewing and addressing risks at every level.  

A common thread for safety failures in any company is that knowledge of the safety problem existed, but it wasn’t adequately communicated to the right people, with the right detail or action plan. We have designed a system, within our release cycle and across the company as a whole, that seeks to ensure there are no gaps in our identification and communication of safety risks, and that all identified risks are addressed at the right level with input from those with the greatest understanding of the specific issues.

The goal is to empower every person with knowledge of a safety risk to raise it effectively, to triage those risks efficiently and to address them promptly at the right level with the best possible information.  

“ It’s easy to view those safety parameters and requirements as limiting factors, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. It has pushed us to be more creative and rethink the conventional development process.”

Most companies would claim that they encourage ambitious projects and innovation. What sets Cruise apart in this regard?

AV is not a science project relegated to a lab — it’s real and it’s interacting with people and other drivers on the streets every day. This sets the performance and safety bar incredibly high and it’s something we take very seriously.

We have to balance cutting-edge innovation without ever compromising safety. It’s easy to view those safety parameters and requirements as limiting factors, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. It has pushed us to be more creative and rethink the conventional development process.

We have also invested heavily in end-to-end tooling that integrates to form an AI and robotics platform which is key to increasing our iteration speed. This includes homegrown tools such as Webviz, our open-sourced platform for robotics data visualization, and our continuous learning machine, a framework for self-supervised auto-labeling data and active learning data mining. These tools, paired with a unique CI/CD process, feedback loops that connect our simulation with real-world performance, and our powerful, scalable infrastructure, allow our engineers to understand their impact on on-road performance. At the same time, they can safely go from ideation to production in days. 

Great Companies Need Great People. That's Where We Come In.

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The key milestones during a new cruise ship’s construction

From steel cutting and coin ceremonies to float outs and deliveries, what are the key stages involved in a new cruise ship’s construction?

MSC Seashore under construction for MSC Cruises

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There are currently more cruise ships on order than at any other time in the cruise industry’s history, with more than 20 being delivered every year from 2020 onwards, but what are the key milestones and stages to a cruise ship’s build process?

First – Initial Order

Cruise lines place an order for a cruise ship, or more usually a series of new cruise ships in a new class, with one of the world’s primary cruise ship-building shipyards. The Finnish-French STX Europe, Germany’s Meyer Werft and the Italian shipyard Fincantieri are the global leaders in cruise ship construction.

Because of the limited number of specialist cruise shipyards, and the huge number of cruise ships being built, these shipyards have vessels in varying stages of construction at any one time. Some are in the steel cutting phase, others are about to be floated out, while others are undergoing final fit out and finish.

When cruise line’s place their order, there will be a confirmed order for a set number, usually one or two, and an ‘option’ for several more, which can be exercised or cancelled at the cruise line’s discretion, depending on market conditions and the success of the initial model.

No name or details are given about the ship at this stage, just the gross tonnage, possible class of ship (for example a sister ship or a brand new design) and usually the passenger capacity. Delivery is usually scheduled for three to four years.

Second – Steel-Cutting

At or just before the steel cutting ceremony the name of the ship will usually be revealed. Modern cruise ships are built in sections, each of which are made up of thousands of individually-cut pieces of steel forming the hull, bulkheads and decks.

Seabourn and shipyard executives initiate steel cutting for Seabourn Venture

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The first of these pieces of steel are cut in front of senior management from the cruise line and the shipyard, as well as members of the press and local dignitaries, such as the mayor or local member of parliament.

An executive from the shipyard and the cruise line will sometimes push a button together to start up the steel cutting machine.

The process of steel cutting then continues for several months in order to produce the many thousands of individual pieces of steel required for the ship, which are then welded together to form the individual sections or blocks.

Third – Laying the Keel

The first of these blocks will form the ship’s keel, or part of it. Ships back in the day were traditionally built from the keel up, it was riveted together along the length of the construction dry dock, and then the hull support structured were added to it like ribs. The steel plates of the hull would then be riveted to the keel.

Nowadays, however, there is no real keel, so the keel laying ceremony is more of a first block laying ceremony. This first block is lowered by crane into the construction dry dock with exact precision, usually using GPS coordinates and lasers to provide pin-point accuracy.

Wonder of the Seas’ keel is laid in France

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This is the beginning of an ongoing process whereby sections of the ship will be built in other parts of the shipyard, or indeed the world, and then transported to the construction dry dock where they are dropped into place and welded together.

These huge blocks weigh upwards of 150 tons, sometimes double that for a large 100,000-plus gross ton ship and although they contain all of the wiring and plumbing required for the ship, they’re usually just bare steel on the inside, because interior fit out happens later.

As the ship progresses toward the float out stage, the azipods will be fitted (all the engineering required is already pre-built into the engine room blocks) and she will be made fully waterproof.

Rotterdam’s godmother with the coins welded to the ship’s hull

The Coin Ceremony Although not a specific stage in the cruise ship’s construction, the coin ceremony is usually held at or soon after the keel laying. Specially commissioned gold coins are laid in the keel block to symbolise good luck – they can be welded in place or just placed in the block and then retrieved later on to be welded into the base of the navigation mast in a ‘mast stepping ceremony’. For the coin ceremony there will a separate Godmother (Madrina) , who is a different person to the official Godmother that will name the ship.

Fourth –  Float Out

The float out is the first of the really big milestones (followed by the delivery and christening). By this point in the build, the ship’s exterior is all but finished and work is in high gear to complete the interior, with the public rooms being built and the prefabricated cabins being installed. They’re installed in a turn-key state, with just the piping and wires needing to be connected, and the soft furnishings added.

Valiant Lady of Virgin Voyages following her float out at Fincantieri

Cruise line and shipyard executives, members of the press and local dignitaries once more gather and the ship’s construction dry dock is filled with water. The godmother from the coin ceremony might smash a bottle of water against the bow and then the ship is towed by tugboats to the fitting out pier. The first bit of water to touch the ship’s keel might also be collected and presented to the captain of the vessel.

The final fit out and finish takes month and it’s during this process as well that her engines will be brought online for the first time and tested ahead of the departure of the ship on her sea trials.

Fifth – Sea Trials

Once all of the ship’s engineering systems and thousands of items of equipment have been brought online, she will be ready to undertake sea trials, during which all of these many systems will be tested in real world conditions for the first time.

The ship isn’t complete yet, various sections of her exterior might still be under construction, but all the engineering is ready. The trials could last several days and may be undertaken in several stages if it is a completely new class of ship, built to an entirely new design.

Carnival Cruise Line’s new ship Mardi Gras departs on her sea trials from Meyer Werft

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Crew, shipyard workers, contractors, insurance representatives and officials from the ship’s flag state and classification society will all be onboard for these sea trials to certify that she is ready to be delivered. Tests such as crash stops, high speed turns, and other maneuvers are performed to make sure everything works as intended.

If no major problems are found, she will return to the fitting out pier and work will continue on the interior and superstructure. Sometimes ships will go back into dry dock if engineering issues are discovered that require her to be removed from the water.

Sixth – Delivery

A few weeks or months later the ship is officially delivered to the cruise line in a hand over ceremony that marks the transfer of ownership. Executives from the shipyard and cruise lines, along with the press and local officials assemble and the shipyard’s flag is lowered, to be replaced by the cruise line’s colours.

At this point, the ship is all but complete, but still requires her full crew complement and all the stores and supplies required for operation. These will usually be taken onboard at the first homeport from which the ship will sail its inaugural cruise season, or at the port where the christening or naming ceremony takes place.

Seventh – Shakedown Voyage

The shakedown voyage is like a second set of sea trials, except with a full crew complement and usually a few pretend passengers made up of cruise line staff, media and contractors to test the ability of the ship to operate as a cruise ship.

It lasts a week or so and will also see the finishing touches to the ship being made by shipyard staff and external contractors. All the crew will also be trained in how to work aboard the new ship, going over cruise line protocols and emergency training.

Marketing staff will also be onboard to take pictures and videos of the ship while everything is brand new and free of passengers.

Eighth –  Inaugural Voyage

Not all cruise lines sail an inaugural voyage as the shakedown cruise is sometimes combined with the inaugural voyage, which usually involved the cruise ship sailing from the nearest port to the shipyard to the port at which she will be christened and depart on her first revenue-generating cruise.

This gives the cruise line another chance to test the crew’s readiness to serve a full complement of guests, and passengers are usually drawn from the cruise line’s shoreside staff, travel agents and media.

Ninth –  Christening

This is the final big milestone in the ship’s construction. At her first homeport, or the port from which she will depart on her first revenue-generating voyage (the maiden voyage), a party is held with representatives from the cruise line, shipyard, cruise industry and the media all in attendance.

Fireworks mark the christening of MSC Seaview

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During this ceremony the ship’s official Godmother, usually royalty, a celebrity or someone celebrated for their contribution to the community, will name the ship, bless her and smash a bottle of champagne across the bow. By tradition, the champagne would be swung against the hull from a rope, but its considered bad luck if the bottle doesn’t break so nowadays cruise line’s use a hydraulic arm to ensure that it does.

Tenth – Maiden Voyage

After the christening, the ship departs for the first time with paying passengers. For a cruise ship built in Europe, but destined to serve the North American market, this is usually a trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise, or a grand voyage to Asia via the Middle East and Dubai, such as was the case with Quantum of the Seas and Spectrum of the Seas.

From this point on the ship will be in cruise operation as much as is possible for the next five years, until she goes into dry dock for her first full hull inspection. During this dry dock period the carpets and bedding might be replaced, or some public rooms, such as bars and restaurants might be reconfigured based on passenger feedback.

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Categories: Cruise Features , Cruise Industry

Tagged as: cruise ship construction , float out , new cruise ship , shipyard , steel cutting

Published by Shaun Ebelthite

Founder and editor of Cruise Arabia & Africa. I try to create the best news and information specifically for cruise passengers taking cruises to and from Dubai (where I live) and South Africa (where I was born). You can contact me at shaun(at)cruisearabiaonline.com. View all posts by Shaun Ebelthite

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Great article, very informative! I enjoy this blog very much, I’m an ocean liner enthusiastic in Illinois for more than 10 years.

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Building continuous integration & continuous delivery for autonomous vehicles on Google Cloud

Mo Elshenawy

Executive Vice President of Engineering, Cruise

Anchoring on Containers

Learn why Google Cloud’s container offerings lead the market

San Francisco’s roads are a notoriously tough place for people to drive. Narrow streets, busy pedestrian traffic, and an extensive network of bicycle routes make driving through San Francisco roughly 40 times more complex than driving in a suburban environment, according to Cruise data. This level of complexity makes San Francisco, America’s second densest city, an ideal environment for testing the most advanced self-driving technology found in today’s autonomous vehicles (AVs). 

Cruise has been focused on tackling city driving since 2013, and with more than 3 million autonomous miles under our belt, we are getting close to delivering an all-electric, shared, self-driving service. In January 2022 we reached a major milestone — members of the public took their first fully driverless rides in San Francisco. 

Developing an urban fleet of fully autonomous vehicles is an incredible challenge. To be successful, we needed to build both the AV tech that’s out on the road and the ecosystem of tools our engineers use internally.

In creating this cycle, we thought carefully about how to best empower our engineers. Home-grown technology chains like this can get unwieldy quickly — the last thing you want as an engineer is to fight the disparate tools you are using or jump across too many of them to get your daily work done. Google Cloud has been a useful tool for us as we worked to streamline and support this development cycle, adapt our cloud-first infrastructure strategy, and seamlessly scale our systems. The frameworks we use in the vehicle, data logging, visualization, data mining, and ML modeling are all built on top of a common foundation that makes going from road to code — and from code to road — fast and safe. 

Let’s take a deeper look at how Google Cloud supports the pillars of our homegrown AV development cycle. 

The foundational platform 

At the base of this development cycle is a strong foundation of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and Compute Engine virtual machines (VMs) with other Google Cloud Infrastructure Services such as Cloud Storage, CloudSQL, PubSub, Cloud Functions, BigQuery, App Engine, and Cloud Logging and Monitoring, etc. We chose to use Kubernetes (k8s) to build our multi-tenant, multi environment Platform as a Service, and build a homegrown tool we call “Juno” that helps Cruise application developers to iterate and deploy at scale instantaneously. 

On this Kubernetes and Istio-based Service platform (PaaS) we reuse a set of Kubernetes (k8s) operators/controllers to manage k8s clusters, manage nodepool migrations, and inject default add-ons for monitoring, logging, and service mesh. Under the hood we reuse Google Cloud’s Config Connector to manage dependencies while creating k8s resources. We run containerized workloads namespaced for multi-tenancy with high compute utilization and less operational overhead. We choose to isolate k8s clusters on the Service platform across development, staging, and production environments. We have also standardized continuous integration and continuous delivery to each of these environments.

At the infrastructure level, we configured Google Cloud with vertical and horizontal boundaries. These boundaries and permissions, including Kubernetes namespace RBAC, Google Cloud projects and Google groups are managed centrally with our homegrown resource lifecycle manager, PaaS Juno. 

Vertically, we use Google Cloud folders and projects to separate each team’s development, staging, and production environments from other teams’. These environments each have their own VPC, subnets, firewalls, interconnects, NAT gateways, private DNS, and any other Google Cloud service that the application service may need, for example GKE/k8s, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Pub/Sub, etc. The services are connected by a network, but traffic between them can be easily audited and regulated. 

Horizontally, Google Cloud projects within each environment allow for distinct permission management and visibility constraints between tenants. Projects make it easy for tenants to focus on what matters to them. Separation between tenants makes it harder for malicious actors to gain unauthorized access, and prevents tenants from accidentally impacting one another.

The ML Brain: ingestion, analysis and modeling

With this strong foundation in place, we’re able to start feeding the pipeline. Every day, we traverse San Francisco’s city streets and collect a lot of anonymized road data. 

At a high level, we take all sensor data as input — from camera, lidar, audio to radar. From there, Cloud Storage and Dataflow help us create highly scalable ETL pipelines and data lakes to create and extract petabytes of on-the-road data quickly and efficiently. Leveraging BigQuery, few hundred engineers are able to process exabytes of data across more than 20 million queries every month . 

But even in San Francisco, less than 1% of the raw data contains useful information, and we quickly realized that we would need to distinguish the signal from the noise to make this work. At our scale, automation was the only answer, so we invested heavily in automatic AI-based event extraction and classification. Using advanced AI for scene understanding, today we can automatically label and tag many different classes of events, and then make them immediately available to every engineer. For example, we rely on panoptic segmentation to recognize trash bins and other objects along the side of the road; we use fine-grained classification to distinguish emergency vehicles from other cars; and we track objects across time and sensors to estimate their motions.

After we ingest and analyze that data, it’s fed back into our dynamic ML Brain — a continuous learning machine that actively mines from the collected data to automatically train new models that exceed the performance of the older models. This is done with the help of Vertex AI , where we are able to train hundreds of models simultaneously, using  hundreds of GPU years every month!

Together, the automation, data sharing, and collaboration that Google Cloud’s tools provide supercharge Cruise engineers’ daily work. 

Testing and simulation: Building an AV “time machine”

In addition to powering the ML Brain of the fleet, we also leverage our Google Cloud infrastructure to test/validate at scale, and build the confidence we need in order to release multiple times per week. 

No matter how many miles our fleet racks up on the road, there will always be unexpected moments that we won’t capture with road miles alone—we need to couple road data with robust simulation data to ensure a safe and comfortable ride for future customers. 

To make this happen, we developed a highly complex, distributed suite of testing and simulation tools that work in concert on top of Compute Engine . 

First, we rely on a tool we call “Morpheus” to generate specific testing scenarios quickly. Simulations are a scalable way to perform robust testing around rare and difficult events at any time of day, in any condition, and in any location. Need to test an AV driving down a misty one-way road at twilight? Or see what it’s like to crest a steep hill while driving east at sunrise? What about a rush-hour evening drive along the Embarcadero on game day? Morpheus automatically creates a realistic real world to “drive” through to maintain Cruise’s rigorous safety standards.

To populate that world with unique driving scenarios we developed a tool called “Road-to-Sim” which fuses information from our millions of real-world miles to create a full-simulation environment from road data. This is an automated conversion pipeline that procedurally recreates any on-road event without manual intervention. This lets us easily create permutations of the event and change attributes like vehicle and pedestrian types. 

Simulation helps us prepare for geographic scale as well. We developed “WorldGen”, a system that can procedurally generate entire cities, allowing us to test in new operational design domains more efficiently and with a shorter lead time. By combining multiple sources of data, we build seamless map tiles across large geographic areas that can immediately be used for large-scale testing.

At the root of this robust simulation engine is “Hydra”, our homegrown batch scheduling platform that scales up to tens of thousands of custom VMs that are optimized using Google Cloud's custom instances to run millions of simulations every day.

While Hydra is a batch servicer, we have many types of batch workloads like simulation, ground truth labeling, and remote builds. All in all, Google Cloud’s highly elastic platform allows us to easily consume 10s of GPU years per day and 1000s of core years per day. In return, our  simulation engine generates petabytes of synthetic data daily, which then is parsed, analyzed and fed back into our development cycle.

This robust simulation and testing engine not only helps us scale and improve our current fleet of AVs, it also gives us a head start in testing and validating our next-generation vehicle: the Origin . Before the Origin ever hits the road, it will have been driving in simulation for years beforehand, encountering and learning from countless long-tail events in the cloud.

Ensuring resilience amidst uncertainty 

In addition to supporting our continuous development cycle, Google Cloud has supported our infrastructure and engineering teams during a period of high growth and unprecedented challenges. Since early 2020, the Cruise Development Platform has proved to be resilient as our engineering team has nearly doubled in size, our workforce transitioned from in-office to work-from-home, and the tech industry has encountered unprecedented supply chain shortages.

During this time, Google Cloud has  enabled the entire organization to seamlessly scale: 

We grew our compute usage by 6x from the month preceding the pandemic to the present

During this pandemic-era transition we tripled our daily compute usage

We also tripled our total capacity enabling us to scale up by more than 150x our base usage in any given day. 

Now, we have the ability to serialize terabytes of data per minute. 

A strong and scalable infrastructure is critical for our ability to offer rides to paying customers on complex city roads. As we inch closer to that reality, Google Cloud gives us unprecedented speed and elasticity in our systems, and ensures the high level of safety our fleet needs. 

For more information on the complex chain of technologies powering Cruise AVs, watch our engineering showcase “ Under the Hood .”

Congratulations Knative on becoming part of the CNCF

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The Shipyard

For Those Who Love Ships

• Cruise Ships

How Cruise Ships Work (Part 3): The Bridge and the Engine Room

It’s like back in the days when we were little children. Grandpaw’s almost mystical tool shed was strictly off limits, but we were just dying to have a peek, weren’t we? Now that we are all grown up, Grandpaw’s gadgets are old news, but there is still a place or two on a cruise ship that remains like a pie in the sky for all of us obsessed by ships.

It’s the heart of the matter, it’s where it all happens, it’s the real deal. And if you are anything like me, you would gladly give away a day at the spa, a dessert buffet and even two, or the latest Marvel flick in the movie theater, just to spend a precious hour down in the noisy engine room of your favorite cruise ship. But life being proverbially unfair, modern cruise lines rarely allow their passengers to enter the bridge or the engine rooms of their ships, unless the visit is part of a specially organized guided tour. Some cruise ships have a window from which passengers can observe what’s going on in the bridge, but only if they promise not to disturb the officers. Which is really hard, when you badly want to touch everything…

So until the next time someone lets me out of sight and I make my umptieth attempt at trespassing to the engine room, let’s have a quick virtual tour of a cruise ship’s most forbidden and exciting parts.

The bridge is the brain of the ship. It is from there that the captain and his officers command and maneuver the ship, keep watch for other vessels or potential hazards, and navigate through the oceans. 

For twenty-four hours each day, the bridge is occupied by two Deck Officers and two Able Seamen, traditionally in four-hour shifts. The main job of the Officer of the Watch is to monitor the ship’s systems and surroundings, and to ensure that everything is running safely and smoothly. During extreme weather, docking, or other special cases, the Captain of the ship is also present on the bridge to guide the deck officers.

The term “bridge” comes from the time of the paddle steamers, where a bridge was built above the two paddle houses that used to hold the paddle wheels. This way the skipper could observe both wheels, while moving freely between the two and giving out commands. On today’s cruise ships, the bridge is usually on the upper deck in the forward part of the ship and extends over the sides of the superstructure, allowing deck officers a view to the sides of the ship as well as down to the waterline. The side extensions are called bridge wings and often have a glass flooring for better visibility.

The bridge houses a number of important nautical devices and information systems for command and navigation of the ship.

Satellite Navigation

The signals emitted by special navigation satellites are picked up by the cruise ship through a special antenna. On board, a computer converts these signals into the exact position of the ship at a given time. On large ships, the position indicator is constantly recorded in a so-called electronic nautical chart.

Satellites also enable automatic positioning systems on modern cruise ships. The positioning system is controlled from the bridge and it uses GPS to ensure that the ship stays at a defined location. When the captain defines a position where the ship needs to remain for a while without anchoring, the system automatically maintains the ship in position by using the bow and stern thrusters.

Modern cruise ships carry a gyro compass and a magnetic compass. The gyro compass consists of a fast-rotating disk, usually positioned in a gimbal. It is a non-magnetic compass oriented parallel to the axis of rotation of the earth and thus indicates the north-south direction.

The gyro compass is more accurate and reliable than the magnetic compass and is therefore the primary reference point for steering the ship. The magnetic compass on board is more prone to inaccuracies and it serves only as back-up.

The word radar stands for Radio Detection And Ranging. Radars are devices that allow us to locate distant objects from a given location, regardless of visibility and weather conditions. The radar emits electromagnetic waves to an object, then receives back the reflected echoes from that object, and interprets them based on distances and angles. These interpretations enable us to determine where an object lies, and in some cases even what its contours look like. In the shipping industry, radars are used for monitoring traffic in ports and coastal regions, for collision protection, for collecting weather data, and for navigation.

Speed logs are devices that measure the speed of the ship. There are two main types of speed logs: Doppler logs and electromagnetic logs.

The Doppler logs send out underwater sound signals. When the sound wave reaches the sea floor, it gets reflected and then returns to the receiver of the log. Due to the movement of the ship relative to the seabed, a Doppler effect occurs and is evaluated by the device. As long as the sound waves can reach the bottom of the sea and return to the receiver, the Doppler log measures the distance travelled over ground. However, if it is no longer possible to use the seabed as a reference, the device uses particles suspended in the water, such as plankton and minerals, to measure travel through the water.  

The electromagnetic logs create an electromagnetic field in the water around the ship, with the aid of a small alternating current and a transducer. A voltage proportional to the speed of the ship is generated in the water and is picked up by special sensors, which then transfer the information to an electronic device for interpretation. From the electronic device, the speed is then transmitted onto the displays in the bridge.

Echo Sounder

Cruise ships also have an echo sounder, a device used for the electro-acoustic measurement of water depths (sounding). The depth is determined by measuring the time between the emission of a sound impulse (water sound) and the arrival of the sound waves reflected from the bottom of the sea. The main purpose of echo sounders in cruise ships is safe navigation through waters.

Electronic Chart Display and Information System

The Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) is a console, built into the bridge of modern cruise ships, which incorporates the main engine safety system, fire control system, monitoring and control system, power management system, propulsion control system and navigation and maneuvering system. The ECDIS allows for navigation of the ship without the need of traditional paper charts. Navigation can be done manually, automatically, or through the Navigation and Command System (NACOS).

The NACOS is the main software used to coordinate all factors that need to be taken into consideration, in order to navigate and maneuver the ship safely. The console is composed of a number of displays showing information from the radars and compasses, data about the course of the ship and planned maneuvers, the current status of the pitch of the thrusters, the speed of the ship, and anything else concerning the steering of the ship. An intelligent autopilot tracks changes in the behavior of the ship through navigational sensors. If the ship drifts off its course due to strong winds, for example, the system automatically responds to correct the change by sending signals straight to the engine room. Once the signal is received by the engines, the rudder or thrusters of the ship are activated and move to the position given by the system. The displays on the bridge show both the angle of the rudder or thrusters, as well as the rate and the radius of the maneuver in progress.

The Engine Room

The engine room is the heart of a cruise ship. It is here that pistons hammer and crankshafts turn to propel the ship forward. It is the loud and oily place where the Chief Engineer and his team work around the clock to ensure that everything is running smoothly. It is the engine room of the ship that allows for the luxuries of air-conditioning, electricity, and plumbing on board cruise ships.

In future articles we will have the chance to explore the contents of the engine room in all the excruciating detail that they deserve, so to all the techies out there – I’ve got you covered. Just stay tuned.

Most larger ships have more than one engine room to house their machinery. The arrangement of the engine room can vary depending on the type, design, and size of the ship. For stability reasons, the engine machinery is typically placed as low as possible in the ship’s bowels and often takes up several decks in height. The machine rooms are split into watertight compartments, each housing different machinery.

Today’s cruise ships operate on diesel or diesel-electric engines. Their operating principle does not differ much from the old days of coal steamers, except for the medium used to generate power. While back in the day ocean liners used steam to move the engine’s pistons, modern cruise ships use diesel fuel. Today’s diesel engines are composed of the engine unit itself, gearboxes, shafts and generators. Some ships also have shaft generators which create electricity from the turning movement of the propeller shaft. The electricity is then used in the cabins, on deck and in the kitchens.

The latest generation of cruise ships are equipped with diesel electric engines. Instead of the more traditional engine-shaft-propeller arrangement, in this case the engines are connected to generators to create electricity. The generators power electric motors, and the electric motors move the propellers.

Aside from the engines and generators, the machinery that occupies the engine rooms includes pumps and heat exchangers for engine cooling, stabilizer fins and their motors, as well as the ship’s bow thruster system.

Since all of the equipment in the engine room is highly dependent on electricity, modern cruise ships also have back-up generators, usually located outside the main engine room, to protect them in case of fire. While these generators cannot produce enough power to keep the ship moving, they produce enough to keep some of the vital functions of the ship running, such as powering the emergency lights and the communication and navigation systems. In case the back-up generators fail, cruise ships are also equipped with a back-up battery that allows some of these functions to continue running for short periods of time. 

All the machinery in the engine rooms is monitored in the Engine Control Room (ECR). The ECR is a room full of screens, lights, alarms, and switches from where the current operational status of every piece of equipment can be checked.

The main switchboard of the ECR is used to distribute the generated electricity to where it is needed on board. The ERC is also where the engineering team comes together to discuss and plan the safe running of the engine rooms, to take decisions in emergency situations, to consult the technical manuals and drawings of the ship, to restart certain pieces of machinery if necessary, and to maintain communication with the bridge. Communication between the ECR and the bridge is crucial for the safe operation of the ship, especially during docking, moving through shallow waters, maneuvering, and changes in the course or speed of the ship.

This concludes our three-part overview of how a cruise ship functions. Now that we have covered the basics, in future articles we can explore all the specifics to our hearts’ content. As always, don’t hesitate to leave your constructive comments below and feel free to suggest topics you want to know more about – chances are I want to know more about them too!

Stay in touch and I’ll see you next time!

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GM and Honda expect the Origin to be the safest SAE Level 4 AV when it enters production in 2022 . (GM) 

Origin of the species

“I was a vehicle-dynamics engineer my entire career—but maybe not a good one, because they put me in charge of a self-driving car!” jokes Jason Fischer, chief engineer for the Cruise Origin, the autonomous vehicle co-developed by General Motors, Honda and Cruise Automation, GM’s self-driving division. The electric, six-passenger AV is designed for SAE Level 4 driverless duty—it has no steering wheel or pedals. Origin is slated to begin mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) pilot operations, on geo-fenced routes, soon after production starts at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant in early 2022. It is engineered for a 1-million-mile (1.6-million-km) duty cycle.

Fischer, a 21-year GM engineering veteran, is responsible for coordinating the tri-partite development partnership, including a cross-functional team of about 300 at GM. He spoke with SAE’s Autonomous Vehicle Engineering at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. Highlights of our conversation, some of which included Origin design director Stuart Norris, follow.

Where is the demarcation among the GM, Honda, and Cruise design and engineering teams—and is it challenging to manage? We’re collaborative. Technically Cruise is responsible for the AV hardware and software. GM and Honda are responsible for the vehicle platform. But it’s not transactional—the Honda folks are working in the GM facility with me. That’s been great. I regularly travel to San Francisco to work with the Cruise team, and they visit us in Michigan. Having GM, Honda and Cruise working together is an integrated solution that, I think, may be a new model for vehicle development. 

Adds Norris: We have a mutually respectful view of each other’s design discipline. We always collaborate and speak directly with each other about issues. Typically, my counterpart at Cruise will look to us for guidance on manufacturing or hardware-engineering issues—the things we’ve done thousands of times before on regular products. They show us their considerable ability with the digital tools. Even the way Cruise does their back office, the way the vehicle is managed at the Fleet/operational level, has given us great insight into how the business is going to be run generally.

Is Origin’s structure a multi-material matrix? It’s actually mainly steel. We do have some aluminum components for mass savings. We’re trying to make it as efficient as possible, but also cost effective.

Having ridden in a half-dozen AV prototypes and demonstrators, I don’t feel safe in them. Some are essentially thin-walled aluminum extrusions, bolted together. No dedicated side impact structure. No side airbags. I don’t want to be riding in them when they get T-boned at an intersection. Pretty scary. Your thoughts? I know what you mean. Of course, Origin will have a NHTSA crash rating. It will be as safe as any vehicle on the road. We’re working with NHTSA right now and they’ve been very flexible and open with us in what we need to do to make this vehicle FMVSS certified for deployment at scale. Our vehicle has ‘plant quality’—the body structure is welded, not bolted together. It will have the same level of quality that a unibody vehicle would have.

Origin has two large, center-opening sliding doors. But without B-pillars, where are you getting the necessary side-intrusion performance? We achieve FMVSS side-impact performance through the door inner structure, through the door and body geometry, and how we tie the door latches into the body structure. There is a lot of careful CAE analysis in the sill and underbody structure, tying both sides of the vehicle together strongly. This all effectively functions as a B-pillar. The latch design is unique and robust: the doors can’t open during a side crash; they can’t peel. We’ve designed to meet and exceed all the major test requirements, including side-pole crash and the NBB [a child-restraint metric in sled-impact testing].

I’m 100% confident in putting my children in this vehicle. From the structural standpoint, it’s safe. Obviously with our AV technology we’re going to avoid collisions—we’re not going to hit anything with this vehicle. But you can’t always prevent someone hitting you, from a driving perspective. But from a safety perspective, we’re there. There’s a level of maturity in Origin that we haven’t seen elsewhere in the industry and safety is our No. 1 priority.   

How is your team approaching the issue of Motion Sickness, given the Origin has backward-facing seats? As a career vehicle-dynamics engineer I’m in tune with motion sickness. We have a lot of CAE analysis and market research in Origin’s low- and high-frequency content and how it can upset the human body. We’ve designed the vehicle from the inside out and put the customer first. 

We’re trying to create an environment where the DLO [daylight openings in the body] help with the vestibular cueing We have huge DLOs to give passengers that visual frame of reference, to avoid the condition where your vestibular cueing [signals from the inner ear] gets a bit confused about the motion your eyes are seeing and your body is feeling. We’re trying to match what the inner ear and equilibrium ‘feel’ with what the eyes see with what the body feels on the frequency side. We have a state-of-the-art simulation facility, called Building 144, at our Milford Proving Grounds, that focus intensely on this.

But as vehicle dynamics engineers we understand what frequencies, amplitudes and time duration the human body needs to stay away from. Our Noise & Vibration team then maps those modal frequencies throughout the vehicle, to ensure we don’t have a transmission path that goes up through the seats to transmit those frequencies. Engineering to minimize and avoid motion sickness is a complex aspect of autonomous-vehicle development.

• CruiseMapper
• Cruise news
• Cruise Industry
• How are Cruise Ships Built? Discover the Construction...

How are Cruise Ships Built? Discover the Construction & Engineering Behind these Treasures of the Sea

Have you at any point gazed at a huge cruise ship and considered how it was able to remain above water? Many cruise ships constantly travel to Alaska and Hawaii during the summer. During the winter, an abundance of cruises are available to go to Mexico, the Caribbean, and other locations in the South Pacific. Considering the continuous growth & development of the cruise sector, the several types of materials & metals required for assembling the ships, we thought it's worth taking a deeper dive here into the full construction involved.

The Components used for Construction of Cruise Ships

Every one of the heaviest sections of the ship like the powerplants, engines, ballast, water, and fuel tanks are kept at the lower part, 20% from the bottom of the ship in order to ensure the ship remains upright. Ideally, underneath the waterline which is used to make sure the ship remains steady and reduces the center of gravity. The 80% left over part of a regular cruise ship is created to be employed by passengers, which is light and open as it can be.

Looking higher up the cruise ship, you will realize that it gets more open and lighter in weight which is aimed at limiting the weight. The pool is only an exception. Apart from being extremely heavy, you can only get the best view at the top which makes the swimming pool located there. 

The materials are properly chosen and are also based upon your location in the vessel. Close to the upper part of the ship, the prominent selections are high durable steel and aluminum. This provides the best available strength-to-weight ratio. Carbon fibers and fiber strengthened plastics are now been tested on more recent vessels as these materials are quite new and pretty uncommon. Getting a little lower, hotter rolled steels would be found. The crucial features here are heavyweight and durability which allows designers to employ thicker materials in this section.

The part that requires more strength, usually very complicated and developed first is the hull. It has the shape of a massive metal tube with several supports and leak-proof rooms inside it. This is vital because several stresses are exerted by the ocean on ships. Tubes are part of the shapes that have the most mechanical strength in the world but it gets weaker when holes are drilled into it like it is required for doors. This makes the door locations to be planned properly which is then strengthened by the structural support.

The massive structure is then fitted at the top after the completion of the hull. But this massive structure spaces of the entire cabin and activity area remains open. The cabin and other components are assembled in a contained environment that is not on the ship just like a car. After the construction of these flat-packed spaces, they are then integrated into the massive structure and installed like the plugging in a huge LEGO.

Several facades are present in many of the rooms looking into the ship. Considering those attractive sheets of surfaces of wood and marble, they are actually artificial wood on light, durable and frames of metal or thin stony sheets. Stainless steel and ceramics are also very common since they are very durable, cost-effective and incombustible.

Crucial Ship Rigging Equipment

Rigging is an important component of ship employment. Riggers set up ships’ parts & equipment for transports by the crane, hoists or other material handling equipment.

When considering ship rigging tools, you’ll be majorly getting involved with hooks, eye straps, swivels, pulleys, and other devices. Even though many of these materials are quite simple and modest. An effective rigging task can only be achieved with all these tools working collectively.

In regards to lifting tools, you typically would be looking at chokers, hooks, halyards, eye straps, connectors, blocks, swivels and many more. Each of these small devices plays a major part in pulling off a rigging job.

Other components such as the ropes and dynamometers are also very crucial when performing rigging and lifting tasks.

The demand for guy wire or wire rope in the marine industry is numerous whether during the start of the construction process of the ship or when harboring the ship at the docks. Heavy strains, pressure and loads are usually involved irrespective of what the wire ropes will be used for. A thin rope can obviously not be able to harbor a ship at the docks. Lifting materials are usually developed to carry out numerous tasks that involve heavy pressure and strain which makes it a top choice for the marine industry.

During the start of a marine procedure, the wire ropes are also employed to build the ships since it is usually employed with cranes when performing lifting tasks in the engineering and construction industry. Ships developed with solid and enormous materials and the best equipment that can help to move them around in a building site is by using wire ropes.

Apart from the lowering and lifting jobs carried out when building a vessel, cranes found in the docks and on the ships are also beneficial when transferring cargos. Concerning the point mentioned above, the best choice for transferring heavy loads is still the rope.

The components are as well beneficial in securing vessels at the docks. The weight of the ships is without any doubt very heavy and one of the tools that can position them securely without floating off is the rope.

The ready-made strategy is usually not far-fetched however, the monstrosity of the scale makes the construction of a heavy ship an enormous task. The construction process incorporates many years of preparation and design procedure along with millions in cost of materials and workers. Ships that are as enormous as the Quantum of the sea with a construction cost of about $1.6 billion. However, in the end, a beautiful transportation masterpiece arises that can be appreciated for years to come.

Designing the Future of Cruising: Royal Caribbean’s Innovation Lab Fuses Technology and Creativity

Download video, related videos.

November 2023 – After more than seven years of dreaming, Royal Caribbean International’s highly anticipated Icon of the Seas has become a reality. The recently completed construction of the first-of-its-kind vacation took place over the course of 900 days in Turku, Finland, starting with the first cut of steel in June 2021. Thousands involved have since accomplished a series of milestones and never-before-seen feats, like the installation of the single largest glass and steel structure to be lifted onto a cruise ship and engineering more water on board than ever before across seven pools, six record-breaking waterslides and more. Watch the highlights of the two-plus years of  Icon’s  construction to see how it all came together.

June 2023 – The highly anticipated vacation, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas , is one step closer to its debut in January 2024. The all-new ship successfully sailed the open ocean for the first time after completing its first, crucial sea trials in Turku, Finland, where it is under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard. During the key milestone, more than 450 specialists ran four days of preliminary tests on the first Icon Class ship’s technical areas, like the main engines, bow and propellers, and even noise and vibration levels – all in preparation for the second sea trials that will push Icon to its limits later this year.  

Sneak Peek:   Icon of the Seas  Construction Tour

The Cruise Blogger | Cruise Blog

Unpacking the myths about cruise holidays. Tried and tested cruising advice from a thirty-something former officer's wife.

Officer Q&A: My role as an engineer on board Cunard’s Queen Mary 2

I am really pleased to bring you my latest interview with Cunard Ship Services Engineer Alastair Smith. Alastair was one of the first people I met when I began working at sea on Ventura back in 2009. Since then, my husband and I have had the pleasure of sailing with him many times on Ventura and Azura. Alastair is currently sailing as a Ship Services Engineer (a senior officer rank) on board Queen Mary 2 (QM2) but he has also stepped up to cover the Staff Chief Engineer role in the past.

How long have you been working at sea and which ships have you sailed on?

I have been working at sea now for 15 years, of which nearly 11 have been with Carnival UK (I joined July 2007). I initially started as Engineer Cadet with a company called Paccship UK, which managed a fleet of ships on behalf of Pacific Carriers Ltd. I sailed on general cargo ships and bulk carriers. On completion of my cadetship I went to work for Maersk in their UK managed fleet of container ships.

Since coming to Carnival UK, I have worked for the brands Cunard, P&O Cruises and Ocean Village. My vessels have been Queen Mary 2, Ventura, Azura, Adonia and Ocean Village 2.

What made you want to become an engineer in the Merchant Navy?

Since a young age I have been technically minded, and this showed throughout my school life where I performed best in Maths and Science based subjects. Following a faltered start in the world of IT, I found myself working for a company called Cosalt Holiday Homes based in Hull, East Yorkshire. I quickly became frustrated at the tedious nature of the work and the same commute in and out of the city everyday! I also knew I was capable of achieving far more than what was realistically possible in my career at that time and was always on the look out for possibilities that would allow me to change that.

At the time I had quite a few friends who had decided to become cadets in the Merchant Navy and were coming home with stories of different places they had been and the variety of experiences they had encountered. Also, my Father had several friends who had worked at sea for much of their lives and I turned to asking them about how they had found it – incredibly 2 of them had even worked for P&O Cruises. One as an engineer, whose career culminated in being a Chief Engineer following a move to “Panocean”, a part of the P&O Bulk Shipping Division. The other was a Radio Officer, which was the pre-cursor role to the Electro-Technical Officers we have today.

All those I spoke to had led successful careers and enjoyed the work they did. With all of this in mind, I decided to go for the change and take the challenge on.

Can you tell me a bit about your rank and what a typical sea day entails for you?

My role of Ships Services Engineer is comprised of two sides: Safety & Facilities. I am primarily responsible for the management of maintenance on critical safety systems onboard, including fixed fire fighting systems and life saving apparatus. The other responsibility is management of the deck and hotel facilities maintenance, which includes HVAC ventilation, plumbing, carpentry and hotel services.

A typical sea day entails a morning debrief with those staff who are on a night shift together with a review of daily morning reports received from the Engine Control Room and Hotel. With the de-briefs complete, the various supervisors and managers of the teams will then get together with me and discuss the days planned (and unplanned!) work. This includes the Ventilation Officer, Hotel Services Engineer, Chief Plumber and Chief Carpenter.

With the day now underway, I attend the morning technical meeting with the Chief Engineer which allows the key players to discuss major points of the day’s work and how it may affect each other. Also other items may be brought up through the discussion which will alter the plan for the day.

The rest of the day will be spent following up on works being carried out, reviewing outstanding work and planning for upcoming events. We often plan major work months or even over a year in advance.

Inevitably on a liner such as Queen Mary 2 there are hosted parties for passengers to attend on many evenings, and regular attendance by senior officers is always well received.

What are the biggest challenges you face on board as a Ship Services Engineer?

I am in a position now where promotion to Staff Chief Engineer is hopefully not far away and I have stepped into the position several times. As Ships Services Engineer, the biggest challenge is the incredible volume of work that is carried out by the team under me.

Whilst this may appear impressive in terms of what the team achieves, it is almost impossible to keep a clear view of everything that is going on. Trying to ensure our very high standards are maintained on a daily basis occupies a lot of my time!

The Staff Chief Engineer is responsible for all of the people with the Engineering team of the Technical Department. There is not a day that goes past when a crew member is not having a difficulty of some kind. Combining this with the responsibility of managing the upkeep and maintenance of the machinery spaces onboard as a whole represents the biggest challenge I have found in that position.

Have you ever had to deal with an engine that’s stopped working? What happens in this situation?

Unfortunately during my tenure as 1 st Engineer Officer I frequently had to deal with engines that had stopped working! Fortunately all of our ships are installed with several engines (typically between 4 & 6), so we are not carrying all of our eggs in one basket. When an engine has tripped off or fails to start, the first step is to interrogate all of the alarms present on the control panel for the engine, as this often gives a good indication as to where the problem may lie.

Based on the events that occurred as the engine failed, plus all other information that can be gained, a structured approach is taken to identify the particular fault. This structure differs from ship to ship due to different engine manufacturers, models and specific installations, but mostly the fault finding process is very similar. Once the fault has been found, corrective action can be taken to restore the engine to full working order – a process that be between minutes and months depending upon the severity of the failure.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to ensure the area around the engine is safe, and to maintain electrical supplies and propulsion so as to not affect the ships safety or itinerary.

Can you tell me a bit about the structure of your department? How many people do you manage and what type of shifts do your team do?

Within the Ships Services department, I am responsible for the HVAC, Plumbing, Carpentry and Hotel Services teams comprising a total of around 30 people.

HVAC is directly managed by the Ventilation Officer. They work normal day shifts however have one person covering a duty pager 24 hours a day in case of essential call outs.

Plumbing is headed up by the Chief Plumber. 1 person is on a night shift covering essential calls throughout the night with the remainder of the team on day work.

Carpentry is lead by the Chief Carpenter. 2 people are on a night shift within this team and complete jobs that are too intrusive during the day e.g. closing off alleyways etc. The remainder of the team are on day work.

Finally the Hotel Services team is run by the Hotel Services Engineer. Similar in structure to HVAC, all the team are on day work with one person covering a duty pager 24 hours.

The final slot is taken by our Pool Motorman who is a direct report to me. However if any maintenance work needs to be carried out on the pools or whirlpools we will involve the Hotel Services team.

Queen Mary 2 is often referred to as the last ‘in service’ ocean going liner of its kind. Can you explain why a liner is different to a cruise ship?

The Queen Mary 2 is designed and built for the North Atlantic service between Southampton and New York at all times of the year. In order to achieve this, there are several key changes required:

• Thicker hull plating, especially at the forward end where there is more stress.
• Deeper draught (around 50% more than a normal cruise ship).
• 4 stabilisers rather than 2 (forward and aft).
• Maximum width of the ship is achieved much farther aft than a cruise ship, giving it the very streamlined hull.
• Accommodation starts much further aft giving it a very long foredeck. This is due to the possibility of waves coming over the bow and damaging accommodation that would otherwise be too far forward.
• A very high boat / promenade deck. The ship actually has a dispensation for the height at which the lifeboats are kept and boarded, as they are above the maximum height normally allowed for passenger ships.
• Finally a LOT of power, to propel this huge vessel to a maximum speed of 30 knots.

Other changes are more in keeping with the timeless tradition of opulence and elegance. For a large passenger ship she only carries just over 2500 guests, which allows for very large public spaces and a real feeling of grandeur when onboard.

What do you like most about working on board Queen Mary 2?

Being not just the flag ship of Cunard but being seen as the flag ship of Carnival Corporation as a whole, brings a certain level of expectation to the ship and all those who work onboard. We are privileged to be a star attraction in some high profile events that push the name and the ship to a worldwide audience – a classic example is hosting the premier of “The Greatest Showman” in New York last year.

The ship often carries some of the most famous people in the world on the legendary trans-atlantic crossings from world leaders and politicians to rock stars. It really is the most famous ship currently operating in the world and to be involved in such great events is an experience that cannot be found on any other, and for me is the best part of working onboard.

How does the engine room differ on Queen Mary 2 compared to other ships? Do you need a bigger team than normal?

The engine room where the diesel generators are installed is very much the same as any other passenger ship. The largest difference is the 2 gas turbines that are installed on deck 12, and give the ship the huge amount of extra power required to run its large propulsion plant at high loads.

The propulsion system is very unique. The ship has propulsion pods installed, which in themselves are very commonplace but here there are 4 of them (most podded ships only have 2) and at 25MW each they were the largest ever made when the ship was launched. This does create extra workload for the Electro-Technical Officers onboard and as a result we do carry an extra 1 st ETO specifically on engine room duty.

What other duties do you have to carry out on board?

The Cunard experience still revolves a lot around the tradition of elegantly passing from one side of the Atlantic to the other. We have far more formal nights than any other brand, and various passenger functions are hosted – welcome onboard parties, parties for members of the loyalty programme, senior officer parties etc. The guests do enjoy meeting those of us that work onboard at these events, so attendance is encouraged as regularly as possible.

The Technical Department also has a dedicated table in the main Britannia restaurant on all formal nights. This is hosted by one of the Senior Officers and we take turns, so as not to cause too much expansion of any one individual’s waist line!

Do you get much time to go ashore? What is your favourite port?

Compared to other ships, the Queen Mary 2’s itinerary comprises far more days at sea, so time available to get ashore is limited. When in port, there is also a lot of activity in terms of visitors, contractors joining / leaving, work being carried out that cannot be completed at sea etc. If I do want to get off though, I do try to pre-plan my day in advance to allow myself some down time and get off for some much needed R&R.

Of all the ports I have travelled to in my career to date, I think Cape Town stands out as a particular port I have enjoyed.

Have you come across any celebrities or heroes of yours, whilst sailing on one of the most famous ships in the world?

Travelling with celebrities is at risk of becoming common on Queen Mary 2! As I write this we have Sir Michael Parkinson visiting various areas around the ship. Last year I happened to walk through the terminal as Travis Barker of Blink 182 fame was about to embark, complete with an entire coach carrying his entourage.

I haven’t met any what I would call personal heroes as yet, but give it time on here and you never know who you might meet around the next corner.

Do you have any words of advice for anyone considering a career in engineering?

The career path at sea is both a fruitful one and rewarding one. Life as a Officer Cadet is a fantastic opportunity to get a high level of training and education with a minimal personal financial outlay – something which puts many young people off studying these days. Cadets are sponsored for their studies, have accommodation generally provided and even get some pay for their efforts on top.

Those completing their cadetship successfully can graduate with either an HND or Foundation Degree in Marine Engineering, and their Engineer Officer of the Watch Certificate.  From here there is a clear and structured path at sea for those who wish to become a Chief Engineer, but many also find successful routes to senior shoreside positions or continue their studies to specialise in particular fields.

Find out more about Cunard via their official website . You can read more officer interviews by following this link.

I am delighted to inform you that this blog has been featured in Feedspot’s Top 10 UK Cruise Blogs list. You can read the full list here . 

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HashiCorp Products Used

A self-driven future

Cruise uses HashiCorp Terraform to increase engineering agility and rapidly build autonomous vehicle technology.

What does it take to create a future where cars drive themselves? Cruise embarked on this journey in 2013, and has emerged as a leader in autonomous vehicle technology. Cruise’s mission is to build the world’s best autonomous vehicle network to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Cruise is designing for a future that is safer, more affordable, and better for our cities, and our planet. They are the only self-driving company to operate an entire fleet of all-electric vehicles and the first to power vehicles with 100% renewable energy.

In the beginning

Pioneering a revolution does not happen by doing things the way they have always been done, but instead by thinking outside the box and discovering new approaches. From designing cutting-edge custom hardware platforms to writing highly optimized software code, Cruise is finding the newest and best tools to do the job. The Cruise approach of a fully integrated hardware and software stack has made them an industry leader and first to pilot a fleet of driverless cars in one of the world’s most demanding urban environments, San Francisco, California. Teams within Cruise were looking for a better way to work together: the Application Development Teams were responsible for building the applications that ultimately make up the autonomous vehicle technology, while the Infrastructure Team, consisting of fewer Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), was responsible for providing the infrastructure and resources for those applications.

As they began to institute core workflows, they needed a way to easily onboard more operations, SREs, and developers. Their goal was to establish a collaborative approach to infrastructure provisioning that allows both teams to innovate, validate, iterate, and repeat as safely and efficiently as possible.

Since the very early days the Cruise infrastructure team, initially just one person, adopted HashiCorp Terraform open source (OSS) to provision cloud resources using the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). In order to facilitate code sharing, all configuration code was kept in a single repository and a small number of engineers had access to deploy configuration changes.

With success comes growth — after adopting Terraform OSS, Cruise’s infrastructure team expanded to more than 40 SREs, while the development organization grew to more than 800 software engineers.

At this point, the infrastructure team realized they had outgrown the workflow they had put in place with Terraform OSS.

Management of large mono-repositories became a challenge and impacted productivity

Manual coordination of changes became complex and slowed down provisioning, elevated risk due to errors introduced by a single developer that would impact many others, difficult to ensure guardrails were in place each time a developer provisioned infrastructure, why terraform, an approach that scales with the organization.

To maintain the increase in teams, applications and software throughout Cruise, engineers needed a way to quickly scale up infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Terraform has provided a pivotal technology to help scale Cruise to manage these needs. With the help of Terraform Enterprise, SREs are able to put Terraform in the hands of developers to help increase efficiency.

Increase Productivity for the Entire Organization

Using workspaces, the team was able to decompose a mono-repository into separate, well-defined micro-repositories and segment the usage and execution of the code within the workspace. Each user has access to their own workspace where they can write infrastructure as code and execute runs to create infrastructure. The use of workspaces also eliminates the impact of errors on infrastructure created and managed outside that workspace. The organization also uses modules which are codified and reusable components of infrastructure. The modules are approved by the SRE team and made available for application developers to use within their individual workspaces.

Reduce Risk with Sentinel Policy and Governance

With hundreds of individuals provisioning infrastructure, it was necessary to have rules established to prevent inadvertent mistakes that impact security and operational best practices. To do this, the core infrastructure team leverages Sentinel, HashiCorp’s policy as code approach to codify policies in version control, and then have them enforced before infrastructure is provisioned. This approach helps them automate policy checks such as:

• Are the resources being provisioned approved?
• Do AWS S3 buckets have logging enabled for audit?
• Does this role have permission to delete resources?
• Is the resource being created in the same region as the VPC subnet?

Sentinel, along with modules, allows the SRE team to ensure that any infrastructure being provisioned is done in a way that is secure and follows operational best practices.

Increase Developer Agility

In the Cruise organization, the SREs are the infrastructure experts and create a baseline standard for how infrastructure can be provisioned and consumed. The team uses modules to provide a library of 150 versioned, validated and approved resources that can be consumed by developers to provision in Terraform Enterprise. If a module does not exist, developers can create one and submit it for validation and approval by the SRE team. The repository of modules was initially a small set of approved resource modules and over time has grown to include common resources for the majority of the development organization. This process was then built into an automated pipeline using a webhook to integrate with GitHub.

Increased efficiency and productivity throughout the organization

Mitigated risk of inadvertent errors and improved developer productivity, automated infrastructure provisioning for 100s of developers.

As the teams at Cruise were rapidly building autonomous vehicle software to run on self-driving cars, they needed to establish an infrastructure automation pipeline in order to efficiently scale and support the growth they were experiencing. The Terraform Enterprise workflow has enabled the Cruise team to grow while continuing to maximize operational efficiency and ensure proper guardrails are in-place to minimize risk.

Cruise Partner

Mark Sparhawk Site Reliability Engineering Manager Cruise

Mark Sparhawk is a site reliability engineering manager at Cruise and governs all aspects of the Autonomous Vehicle program. Mark is passionate about building high performing teams with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and belonging. He is responsible for multiple embedded SRE teams, centralized tooling, library and services team as well as capacity and efficiency teams.

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Why today’s engine rooms are technological masterpieces

We highlight the innovations that are reshaping the hub of the ship

Taking a look at the innovations that are reshaping the hub of the ship, with the latest power and propulsion systems

By Anonym | 29 January 2019

This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2018 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review . All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.

Today’s cruise and ferry operators are constantly looking for innovative new ways to transform the engine room. But with ever-increasing complexity, a swathe of evolving regulations to meet, growing environmental concerns and space at a premium, success requires expert care and attention. 

“Retrofitting pieces of equipment to improve efficiency or comply with upcoming environmental regulations, for example, can sometimes feel like a risky operation,” explains Mike Simpson, technical director for Marine Design Consultancy at Houlder, which has provided a turnkey installation service for operators including P&O Ferries and Carnival alongside its work on recent newbuilds for Wightlink and Caledonian MacBrayne. “Independent design, engineering and project management services, beginning with survey and 3D laser scanning, are an important phase of activity.” 

It’s something that Virgin Voyages has been keen to get right from the start. Its first-ever cruise ship Scarlet Lady, along with her two sister ships, will be powered by engines, hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers), selective catalytic reduction systems and integrated navigation systems from Finnish company Wärtsilä. Meanwhile, global industrial engineering firm ABB is to supply its Azipod gearless propulsion systems that have an electric drive motor located in a submerged pod outside the hull, to minimise noise, vibrations and cut fuel consumption by 15%. 

A hybrid approach has also been taken by French luxury cruise operator Ponant, who has recently signed French engineering firm GTT to supply two LNG fuel tanks for its icebreaker expedition ship. As a result, the ship will be able to make expeditions for up to a month entirely using LNG. 

“The GTT fuel tank solution for passenger ships gives more space for commercial use – saving cabins and offering more autonomy thanks to its compact, adaptable geometry and its high useful volume ratio (up to 95%),” says Julien Bec, vice president of the LNG as fuel division, GTT. “The GTT membrane can also operate at higher pressure than traditional tanks, thereby enabling easier management of boil-off for small tank volumes.” 

Norwegian expedition cruise operator Hurtigruten is also following suit. The company has recently signed a letter of intent with Rolls-Royce for a major environmental upgrade programme to hybrid power. The main engines on up to nine cruise ferries will switch from diesel to gas power and the upgrade will also include installation of a hybrid battery system.

The upgrade will enable the former diesel-powered ships to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 25%. “This is an investment for the future, and a historic day for us, for the environment and for the whole, long Norwegian coastline,” explained Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Hurtigruten, in a press release. “The combination of battery packs with the most environmentally friendly and effective gas engines in the market will provide a huge gain for the environment.”

With environmental considerations top of the agenda for cruise lines, it’s easy to see why many engineering firms are looking to advance solutions even further in the years to come. To this end, MAN Diesel & Turbo in Norway is building a new test-engine facility in collaboration with its two-stroke licensee, HHI-EMD, the engine and machinery division of Hyundai Heavy Industries. The new venture aims to expand MAN Diesel & Turbo’s research and development test capacity, in the process strengthening its development of dual-fuel gas engines.

Lars Juliussen, senior manager and head of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Diesel Research Centre in Copenhagen, said: “The testing of our engine technology is an essential part of our continued pursuit of delivering the marine segment’s best two-stroke engines. This new test set-up will enable us to further advance our pursuit of highly reliable and environmentally-friendly technology with a strong focus on cost-competitive gas engines and related equipment.”

Meanwhile, ABB has teamed up with clean energy firm Ballard Power Systems to develop a next-generation fuel cell power system for sustainable marine e-mobility.

“The next generation of ships – electric, digital and connected – will require energy sources that are not only able to meet the increasing demands for fuel efficiency, but will also enable cleaner and safer shipping,” said Peter Terwiesch, president ABB’s Industrial Automation division, in a press release announcing the partnership. “We are excited to collaborate with Ballard Power Systems on driving the development of the next-generation fuel cell technology that will power the vessels of the future.”

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Tags: Wärtsilä     ABB     MAN Diesel & Turbo     LNG     Hurtigruten     propulsion     scrubber     Virgin Voyages     Ballard Power Systems     GTT     engine     engine room     Scarlett Lady

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Important Updates from Cruise

11.14 2023 Update:

On November 13, the Cruise Board held its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting at Cruise headquarters in San Francisco. The Board took further steps to enhance safety and transparency as we work to build a better Cruise, including:

Craig Glidden to assume the role of Chief Administrative Officer for Cruise

As we posted in our blog last week, we have initiated workstreams in four key areas to identify potential improvements to how we operate. We are pleased that Craig Glidden, GM’s Executive Vice President of Legal and Policy and Cruise board member, will be expanding his support of Cruise and working closely with Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt and the Cruise Senior Leadership Team to oversee the workstreams around Transparency and Community Engagement. Cruise’s Legal & Policy, Communications, and Finance teams will report directly to Craig, and he will assume the title of Chief Administrative Officer for Cruise. He will continue in his current role at GM. Cruise will benefit from leveraging Craig and GM’s experience and best practices when it comes to transparency and engagement around safety. 

Retention of an independent expert to conduct a comprehensive safety assessment

We announced last week that Cruise will hire a permanent Chief Safety Officer who will report directly to Kyle. In addition, the Cruise Board will retain a third-party safety expert in the coming weeks to perform a full assessment of Cruise’s safety operations and culture. These independent findings will help further guide and inform the work we have initiated.

Expansion of Exponent’s scope

Cruise previously hired the independent, third-party engineering consulting firm, Exponent, to conduct a technical root cause analysis of the October 2 incident. That work is ongoing, and the Board plans to expand Exponent’s remit to include a comprehensive review of our safety systems and technology.

Voluntary pause of supervised and manual operations 

On October 26, we announced a pause of all our driverless operations while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and improve how we operate. In the coming days, we are also pausing our supervised and manual AV operations in the U.S., affecting roughly 70 vehicles. This orderly pause is a further step to rebuild public trust while we undergo a full safety review. We will continue to operate our vehicles in closed course training environments and maintain an active simulation program in order to stay focused on advancing AV technology.

Cruise is dedicated to rebuilding trust and operating at the highest standards of safety. We are committed to keeping our customers, regulators, and the public informed throughout this process.

We believe that over time autonomous vehicles can significantly reduce the number and severity of car collisions, including the more than 40,000 deaths on U.S. roads each year. This is what motivates our work. We also know we have a responsibility to operate at the highest standards of safety, transparency and accountability. 

We recently announced a pause of all our driverless operations while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and improve how we operate. During this time we plan to seek input from our government and agency partners and other key stakeholders to understand how we can be better partners. 

Today we are sharing updates on some of the initial steps we have taken. 

Issued a Voluntary Software Recall

As part of our larger efforts to assess, identify and remedy issues as we work with NHTSA and other regulators, we have issued a voluntary recall of part of our AV software based on a new analysis of our AV’s post-collision response on October 2. The recall addresses circumstances in which the Cruise collision detection subsystem may cause the Cruise AV to attempt to pull over out of traffic instead of remaining stationary when a pullover is not the desired post-collision response. 

We issued the recall through a 573 NHTSA filing, which is the standard protocol for a company looking to notify consumers of hardware or software safety issues that require a remedy. We have also developed a software update that remedies the issue described and have deployed it to our supervised test fleet, which remains in operation. We’ll deploy the remedy to our driverless fleet prior to resuming those operations.

Although we determined that a similar collision with a risk of serious injury could have recurred every 10 million - 100 million miles of driving on average prior to the software update, we strive to continually improve and to make these events even rarer. As our software improves, it is likely we will file additional recalls to inform both NHTSA and the public of updates to enhance safety across our fleet. 

Announced a Chief Safety Officer (CSO) Role

Cruise is conducting a search to hire a Chief Safety Officer who will report directly to the CEO. In the meantime, Dr. Louise Zhang, VP of Safety & Systems, will assume the role of Interim Chief Safety Officer and oversee our safety review & investigations. 

Retained Third-Party Law Firm to Review October Incident

The Cruise Board retained law firm Quinn Emanuel to examine and better understand Cruise’s response to the October 2 incident, including Cruise’s interactions with law enforcement, regulators, and the media. This outside review will help us learn from this incident, strengthen our protocols, and improve our response to these types of incidents in the future. 

Appointed Exponent to Conduct Technical Root Cause Analysis

In addition to our cooperation with investigations from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), we have hired an independent, third-party engineering firm to perform a technical root cause analysis of the October 2 incident. We will incorporate their findings into our safety and engineering processes.

Initiated Additional Workstreams

We have identified four key areas of potential improvements to how we operate and have assigned leaders to investigate each one and complete follow up actions.

Safety Governance: We are taking a deep look at our overall safety approach and risk management structures to ensure we are built and positioned to enable continuous improvement. 

Safety and Engineering Processes: We have advanced tools and processes in place and are committed to further upgrades wherever warranted. We are comprehensively reviewing all of our safety, testing, and validation processes and will add or modify processes where there is room to improve.

Internal & External Transparency: We understand that transparency is key to trust, especially in an emerging industry like ours.  We are committed to improving how we communicate with the public, our customers, regulators, the media, and Cruise employees. 

Community Engagement: We also understand the importance of collaborative partnerships. To realize the community benefits of autonomous driving, we need to do a better job engaging with our stakeholders and soliciting their feedback. 

We are dedicated to building a better Cruise, and these initial actions are just some of the steps we’re taking as we listen, learn, and improve. We are committed to keeping our customers, regulators, and the public informed throughout this process.