Useless Westerdam Info

This really does not have much to do with anything but I learned a few details about Westerdam (and I suppose about all the Vista class).

HAL advertises Westerdam's tonnage as 82'500. Her actual gross registered tonnage is 82'348. Her actual displacement is 45'072.5 tonnes. So if you've ever thought your cruise ship was as big as an aircraft carrier, the carrier still weighs twice as much.

If you are a sailor and think the sails on your 40ft. sloop are big. Westerdam's transversal wind area is 8'760 square meters that is 94'302 square feet.

Westerdam has six engines:

three are 16 cylinder diesels with about 15'400 hp each (46'310 total)

two are 12 cylinder diesels with about 11'575 hp each (23'155 total)

one turbine (jet engine) 18'760 hp

The gas turbine is maintained in running condition and is tested periodically but not actually used. It burns too much fuel. It was installed in case Alaska enacts tough regulations about visible smoke emissions. The turbine makes almost no visible smoke when running.

Each azipod produces 24'000 hp when running ahead. When used for docking and being rotated through 360 degrees their power is limited to 13'500 hp each. "Full sea" speed is 24 knots with the propellers turning about 142 rpm.

Westerdam has three bow thrusters of 2'500 hp each. Even though they used the bow thrusters to stear the ship in the movie Speed II, they really have little effect steering the ship when it is underway and at speed.

If there is anything else that nobody wants to know just ask.

Yes, would love a picture of a 5th deck, stern cabin... the standard balcony really. They are completely covered, but would like to see what they look like. It appears that NO one has a picture. :)

Thanks for the education.

I hope I never have to compete with you, at Trivia.:)

I hope I never have to compete with you, at Trivia.:)

nah, I still kick his butt at trivia, as long as it's not about engineering:o :p

As for the 5th deck balcony--can't help with that--we were on deck 6 and didn't visit any deck 5 cabins, certainly not aft...

Very interesting, but I do think you might be confusing displacement tonnage with deadweight tonnage, which are two very different weights.

US Naval ships are nomally listed by two different displacement tonnages:

normal load and war load.

Great information.

Very interesting, but I do think you might be confusing displacement tonnage with deadweight tonnage, which are two very different weights.

 

US Naval ships are nomally listed by two different displacement tonnages:

 

normal load and war load.

I was afraid the average person would not give a &^%$ but here are the numbers I have:

deadweight at design draught: 7'200 tonnes

displacement at summer draught: 45'072

gross registered tonnage: 82'348

net registered tonnage: 42'635

Panama Canal net tonnage: 69'788

Is there a quiz later? :D

Very interesting.

My wife and kids are going to be giving me funny looks at the dinner table when I tell them what I have learned. Then my DW will make me promise not to bring this up with other cruisers during our sail on the Westerdam!:D

Give me some more....more....more

Here is a question for you. Top speed is 24 knots...does the ship ever cruise at this speed?

They generally cruise at whatever speed is required to keep to the schedule. On our 15 day we mostly cruised around 20 knots if we had to cover distance but when the ports were closer together we would do 12, 15 or 17. We were cruising one day at 20.3 knots and the azipods were consuming 20.5 megawatts of electricity (10 MW per pod or about 13'500 hp). At full power they consume 17.6 MW (24'000 hp). So I assume it takes the last 7 MW per pod to get the last 4 knots of speed which is a high price to pay for a small increase in speed.

The ships diesel generators can consume 216 tons (about 66'096 gallons) of fuel a day. The turbine can burn 90 tons (about 30'240 gallons) per day.

The ship can make 1'700 tons (425'000 gallons) of fresh water per day but they ship uses about 750 tons (187'500 gallons) per day.

In an emergency they can go to full astern in 4 seconds, though normally they keep the propeller running forward and rotate the azipod 180 degrees.

If you have to tender at a port and the ship anchors (or when docking), look off the stern. You may see water boiling off both sides of the stern. They often anchor the bow and use the engines to hold the ship steady and pointed in one direction (as opposed to letting it swing with the wind). They keep both azipods running slowly and thrusting outward so they cancel each other out. When they need to move the ship they rotate a pod slightly to provide thrust (when they are not directly opposite each other they no longer cancel each other out). Why: Azipods tend to have problems with their bearings. To save wear on the bearings they run them continuously at the same speed, and use the rotation to control direction & speed of the ship.

Oh, in case you are wondering why "deadweight at design draught" is such a different number than all the other displacements/weights for the ship. Deadweight is the ammount of weight (cargo,fuel, passengers, beer, wine, lobster...) to submerge the ship from it's light draught to it's maximum permitted draught. It is sort-of the cargo capacity of the ship. In reality, if they are lightly loaded (no passengers, low on fuel) they will fill ballast tanks with sea water to make the ship heavier and when they are full (lots of passengers & luggage, fuel) they pump out the ballast tanks to make the ship lighter and keep it within it's designed range; so they actually have a greater cargo range than the 7'200 tonnes.

The ship will also use it's ballast tanks to make the ship heal (lean). Sometimes when docked or tendering they will ballast the ship to one side (make it lean) to put the tender platform or gangplank at a better height.

This really does not have much to do with anything but I learned a few details about Westerdam (and I suppose about all the Vista class).

 

HAL advertises Westerdam's tonnage as 82'500. Her actual gross registered tonnage is 82'348. Her actual displacement is 45'072.5 tonnes. So if you've ever thought your cruise ship was as big as an aircraft carrier, the carrier still weighs twice as much.

 

If you are a sailor and think the sails on your 40ft. sloop are big. Westerdam's transversal wind area is 8'760 square meters that is 94'302 square feet.

 

Westerdam has six engines:

three are 16 cylinder diesels with about 15'400 hp each (46'310 total)

two are 12 cylinder diesels with about 11'575 hp each (23'155 total)

one turbine (jet engine) 18'760 hp

 

The gas turbine is maintained in running condition and is tested periodically but not actually used. It burns too much fuel. It was installed in case Alaska enacts tough regulations about visible smoke emissions. The turbine makes almost no visible smoke when running.

 

Each azipod produces 24'000 hp when running ahead. When used for docking and being rotated through 360 degrees their power is limited to 13'500 hp each. "Full sea" speed is 24 knots with the propellers turning about 142 rpm.

 

Westerdam has three bow thrusters of 2'500 hp each. Even though they used the bow thrusters to stear the ship in the movie Speed II, they really have little effect steering the ship when it is underway and at speed.

 

If there is anything else that nobody wants to know just ask.

WOW !!! COOL BEANS:D

Useless info? Perhaps. But very interesting!

Thank you for the information. Can you tell us a bit about the stabilizers? It seems as if some days the seas are not that rough but the boat is still rocking and rolling and vice versa.

You are correct if you think the stabilizers are not being used. The stabilizers were rarely used on our 15 day cruise. With the stabilizers retracted (off) the ship had a mild gentle roll but about every 10 minutes there would be a roll that was slightly more than the others.

I did not ask the fuel/speed/energy penalty of deploying a stabilizer on Westerdam, but when I cruised on the Norway I remember hearing that each stabilizer (Norway had 4, Westerdam has 2) cost about 1 knot of speed.

Sorry about the low resolution. I'm on slow dial-up and had to cut the resolution to get it to load in less than a day, but on the right you can see how the stabilizers extend outward and down from the hull.

---

When on Maasdam leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico I was on an upper deck taking pictures of my wife in the aft pool. It was a beautiful day with a large ground swell. As we exited the harbor the ship started to take on a significant roll. Then as the ship rolled, it came up to level and stopped. Magic. The ship did not roll much until we got back to Norfolk. Once we got close (entering the harbor) it was like flipping a switch, the rolling started again.

Here's a link to a short but interesting article on the Oosterdam that was in Scientific American: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=cruise-ships

Pilotdane,

Can you please explain how the water is made "fresh"?

Thanks...

:D :D :D

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Just wowed my DH with the fuel consumption info.:D

Thanks for the article link kenish-it was quite interesting. On my Panama Canal cruise on the Noordam the environmental officer gave a wonderful talk on his job and what HAL does to meet environmental requirements. He was surprised by the number of people that showed up for his talk but I think there are lots of us who are interested in this topic and there were some very insightful questions asked.

Pilotdane-I'd take you on my trivia team anytime. Thanks for the info.

St. Louis Sal

Pilotdane,

 

Can you please explain how the water is made "fresh"?

 

Thanks...

 

:D :D :D

The capture the water that condenses from the air conditioning system and use evaporators.

The evaporators work just like they sound. They evaporate sea water by heating (the water evaporates and the salt & impurities are left behind). The Chief Engineer alluded to the various methods of heating the water but I did not have the chance to ask specifics. Environmentally & economically I assume they use waste heat from the engines and can burn fuel when they need to make extra water.

If anybody has a cruise coming in the near future please ask how they power the evaporators.

The evaporators work just like they sound. They evaporate sea water by heating (the water evaporates and the salt & impurities are left behind).

Maybe a silly question... but what happens to the salt residue?

Pilotdane---

Thanks for all the info. I have forwarded it to my DH and my Dad. Both of them will be fascinated. Predictably, they work in technology and engineering and love this sort of trivia.

Thanks again,

Jane

I prefer the terms '"fun facts" or "trivia" to "useless information". :)

Maybe a silly question... but what happens to the salt residue?

Pilotdane is correct, seawater is evaporated and then condensed again. As only part of the seawater is evaporated, the remaining water is just more salty than it was originally.

Depending on the amount of engines running, engine cooling water is used to heat the seawater. As the cooling water of the engines typically is only about 85degrees celcius, it normally won't make the seawater boil. But by reducing the pressure in the evaporator (sucking it vacuum) the temperature at which water starts to boil is reduced, so it will start boiling at the lower temperature.

If not enough engines are running, we can use steam from the boiler to heat the seawater. This will cost fuel, which increases the price of the water made.

Note that depending on the sailing area of the ship, it can be cheaper to buy water from the shoreside than it is to make it ourselves. Alaska for instance has an abundance of fresh water available, so prices are lower per m3 than it is to make it ourselves.