ABB has won a long-term service contract from Carnival Corporation to maintain and upgrade ABB’s Azipod equipment over the next 15 years for 20 ships in their fleet, cutting costs by as much as $1 million a year per ship.

Carnival is the world’s largest cruise ship operator and has 20 cruise vessels with Azipod propulsion systems.

Azipods differ from conventional shaft or z-drive configurations in that they are exclusively powered by high voltage electricity and the motors that turn the propeller are located outside the hull and integrated directly with the propeller itself.  Benefits of this configuration include greater hydrodynamic efficiency, maneuverability, and more flexible placement of the on board electrical generation plant.  The upgrades are projected to improve the already high energy efficiency of Azipod units by 2.5 to 4 percent.

“Customers in all industries are looking at ways to reduce overall lifecycle costs and make such costs more predictable, while continuing to improve equipment performance,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “We provide a full portfolio of services, including ongoing technology upgrades and dependable maintenance support to help extend the life of equipment, and ensure that it runs at the highest energy efficiency levels possible.” 

The service contract covers technology and energy efficiency upgrades for all Azipod systems and propulsion condition monitoring for all ships, and other system equipment maintenance. 

The contract includes technology upgrades such as the newly designed Azipod optimized fin shape, which receives water flow from the propeller at a new, less acute angle that redirects the flow more efficiently and Azipod Dynamic Optimizer, a software tool designed to control the pod toe angle, which provides even greater fuel savings for large vessels. 

For an “Inside Look at ABB Azipods” click HERE.

Carnival isn’t the only cruise line using ABB Azipods.  The Captain of the Freedom of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship, describes his experience using ABB Azipods while operating in a highly adverse current condition without tugs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas departed Port Everglades, Florida last week, the hydrodynamic response of the ship as it interacted with the surrounding tidal areas left beach-goers puzzled, and for those who were in the water, perhaps even a bit worried as they were sucked toward the channel…

Video and Images shot by maritime headhunter and University of Miami sailing coach, Craig Johnson –  Flagship Management www.flagshipmgt.com

Photo Sequence:

READ: Full gCaptain Coverage of the Costa Concordia Disaster

Here’s the ship’s track via MarineTraffic.com:

Source: Gemitrafik

Source: Gemitrafik

Click here to view the embedded video.

The following photos have appeared on several sites without attribution and are unverified as of Monday morning. 

The following is aerial footage of the partially submerged cruise ship, and the rescue operations early this morning, courtesy of Russia Today:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The initial report via Sky News:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It seems Costa Cruises website is down most likely due to heavy traffic but the company has made the following statements regarding the incident via their twitter, @costacruises

@costacruises: Costa Cruises confirms the evacuation of about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on board of the Costa Concordia off Italian coast.

@costacruises: Costa expresses deep appreciation to Coast Guard, Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza, Polizia di Stato, Marina Militare and citizens of Giglio

Costa Concordia cruise ship Friday night, prior to sinking. Photo: (by Sestini – Corriere della Sera) via United States Embassy in Rome

UPDATE: The captain of the cruise ship COSTA CONCORDIA has been arrested by Italian police as an investigation into Friday night’s grounding is launched.  Read: Updated: Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Sinks off Italian Coast [VIDEO, AIS Track]

Earlier: Word is out that the cruiseship COSTA CONCORDIA went aground Friday night. But aground doesn’t accurately describe the current situation, which I would describe as a sinking.

Holidaymakers from Britain, France, Italy and Germany were forced to flee the 1,500-cabin Costa Concordia in lifeboats when it hit a reef less than two hours after leaving port.

Some leapt overboard and swam to shore as the ship started to sink into the waters near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

Francesco Paolillo, the coastguard spokesman, said that at least three bodies were retrieved from the sea and at least three more were feared dead.

Local officials are also reporting that 69 people are still unaccounted for.

By this morning, the ship was lying virtually flat off Giglio’s coast, its starboard side submerged in the water. – Telegraph, UK (Click to read the whole article)

Here are two photos from USA Today of the accident:

According to a New York Times report:

“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side,” said Mike van Dijk, a 54-year-old from Pretoria, South Africa. “We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get onto the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble.”

The vessel “hit an obstacle” — it was not clear if it might have hit a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio — “ripping a gash 50 meters across” in the side of the ship, and started taking on water.

The cruise liner’s captain, Commander Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio’s small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier.

But after the ship started listing badly, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Commander Paolillo said.

Surely there will be more to follow regarding this incident.

The World cruise ship, moored in Israel earlier this week.

South Korea has been trying for years to boost its tourism industry as part of its effort to strengthen the domestic economy. On Wednesday, it unveiled its latest plan: getting into the cruise ship business.

The plan includes tax benefits for cruise ship operators and training programs for workers who will be employed by the industry, as well as a green light for on-board casinos for foreigners.

The initiative comes amid expectations that Chinese tourists—who are already a key source of income for Korea’s relatively small tourism and retail industry–will boost demand for cruise tourism in Asia in coming years.

Korea doesn’t have a local cruise ship operator yet, but the government hopes that changes in regulations will allow the industry to develop.

The plan also includes increased terminal and port capacity to accommodate a greater influx of cruise ship tourists. Korea now has just two ports for cruise ships, one in the southern port city of Busan and another at Jeju island, but the government aims to build up or expand dedicated terminals in existing ports as well as in other areas like Incheon and Yeosu on the southwest coast.

It remains to be seen whether a domestic cruising industry will spring up (if it does, surely only the hardiest travelers would be interested in chugging around Korea’s coastline during the frigid winter months).

But the plan highlights the need for South Korea to do more to boost its relatively poor infrastructure for tourists and make its economy more resilient to the ebbs and flows of global trade.

By Se Young Lee, Copyright 2011 Dow Jones

Copyright 2011: Dow Jones | Photo by Svein Ove Ekornesvag/Scanpix

Two crew members where killed and over a dozen people injured by a fire aboard the cruise ship Nordlysand. The fire is believed to have ignited in the engine room after an explosion. All 262 crew members and crew where evacuated from the vessel.

The ship was sailing along the western of Norway, 230 miles north-west of Oslo, when the fire broke Thursday morning. Police received eyewitness testimony that there was an explosion but do not know the source of the blast.

Television stations across Europe showed clouds of thick black smoke rising from the ship after it was taken to Aalesund and, eventually, docked. Borghild Eldoeen, a spokesman for the rescue services in Norway said.”The fire is under control now but we have a problem with the ship taking on water so right now they are working on stabilising the vessel.” The ship continues to list.

The Nordlys, which belongs to the Hurtigruten company, was sailing northwards from Bergen to the Arctic circle when it caught fire. The nationalities of the passengers is not known, but most of the tourists are believed to be Norwegian.

Some of the 55 crew members remain on board to help firefighters battle the blaze.

The Nordlys was built in 1944 by Volkswerft in Stralsund, Germany and is one of several vessels that ply the Norwegian coast on a popular 1,500-mile cruise between above the Arctic Circle. The line carries primarily tourists but also serves as a ferry for locals between small coastal cities.

Incident Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

In November of last year Rick Ehlert, a passenger on Holland America’s Ryndam, did something incredibly stupid. Drunk and in a mischievous mood Mr. Ehlert broke into the ship’s control room, threw over a life ring then proceeded to deploy the ship’s anchor… while the vessel was underway. Normally this act of sabatouge would be difficult to trace back to the perpetrator but, according to the FBI, it was all caught on tape. The FBI’s report further states that Ehlert “approaching the anchor, then touching the anchor, and then taking multiple steps to deploy it.”

And how did Elhert know how to deploy the anchor? Well he also happen to be a  wealthy California businessman (he runs RV dealerships) and owner of a 50′ yacht which, apparently, has an anchor so large it uses a similar winch system.

According to his lawyer,  Daniel L. Castillo, Ehlert has admitted to the act and the Tampa Tribune reports. “I guess he thought it was a big joke,” Castillo said.  “He’s not denying he did it.”

Ehlert has been indicted for “attempting to damage, destroy, disable, or wreck a vessel” and attempting “to cause damage to a ship which is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship”, felony charges that carry a maximum prison term of 20 years, although the Tribune reports that prosecutors suggest they expect him to receive probation.

“He’s guilty of felony stupidity — that he is,” Castillo told the Tribune but there was no damage to the ship and no one was hurt so“Where’s the crime?”, asked Castilo. The lawyer’s official statement leaves out the “stupid” part stating; “”The deployment of the rear anchor of the vessel while underway, albeit a reckless and foolish act, does not rise to the level of a federal criminal violation.”

Cruise Critic has more details on the incident and some “expert” opinion but well leave this to the real experts, gCaptain’s experienced readers, to decide… so… is this just a stupid prank or a potential ISPS and safety nightmare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo of the Delta Queen by fkehren

The classic 418′, 436 passenger, US Flagged paddlewheel American Queen is under contract for a sale price of $15.5 million Hornblower Maine Services, owners of the ill-fated Hawaii Ferry’s (a few of which, BTW, are now supporting relief efforts in Japan).

Currently owned by the US Maritime Administration and docked in Beaumont Texas, the company expects to return the vessel to service as an overnight cruise vessel in inland waters

“The American Queen is the largest, most luxurious steamboat ever built,” Waggoner told Workboat magazine. “I love the American Queen as a piece of hardware. What we’re missing on our rivers is the Mark Twain experience.”

Majestic’s parent company, Ambassadors International Inc., returned the American Queen and the 360’, 223-passenger Empress of the North back to Marad after filing for bancrupcy protection. Both were built with Title XI loan guarantees. The Empress, along with the Delta Queen and Columbia Queen, are still for sale.

Our friends at Telstar Logistics, with a tip from gCaptain member DH, bring us mega ships, planes and photos in their recent post A Very Big Airplane Helps a Very Big Cruise Ship Get a Very Big Engine Change. They write:

The cruise ship Carnival Spendor just entered the big drydock in San Francisco, where she will undergo major repairs — including an engine replacement. Ouch!

Remember the Carnival Splendor? That’s the infamous ship that spent four days adrift last November after an onboard fire disabled her propulsion 200 miles south of San Diego. With 3299 passengers and 1167 crew trapped aboard, the US Navy diverted the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to provision the stricken ship with food and supplies. (Fresh shrimp cocktails for the buffet? Delivered by the Gipper??)

All kidding aside, it was a bad scene.

But now it’s time to make the ship new again. It will cost $56 million and take 4 to 6 weeks, but in the end the Carnival Splendor will get a new diesel engine and two alternators. The new motor arrived via a gigantic Antonov An-124 that landed on Saturday at San Francisco International Airport.

Click HERE to continue reading and for a link to the photos.

Photo credit: flickr user AGrinberg

Divers searched the water for the 29-year-old man who fell overboard the Volendam, the Holland-American line cruise ship, and eventually recovered the man’s body. The other crew member managed to use a bucket to stay afloat and was quickly rescued.

Both men were wearing heavy clothing, overalls and boots but no lifejackets, he said. “It appears that one of the cables let go at one end and the lifeboat is dangling there by one cable at the moment,” said St John spokesman Ian Henderson. The incident occurred during a lifeboat drill at about 2.30pm on Saturday. No additional information about the cause of the lifeboat failure is available at this time.