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Liberty engine issue

allydown

By allydown,
in Royal Caribbean International

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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Andrew and OB, I just want to know how I send a message in this forum, been here for 15 years, and have still not learned how.:D:eek:

 

jc

 

Been here since 2006 and I haven't figured that out either.;) I think the reason they don't have messaging is people would be sending messages about TAs etc... Most of things discussed would probably be against CC guidelines.

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tocanada

tocanada

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Just got off Liberty. Everything on the ship was working fine including the Flowrider.

We missed Jamaica and had an extra sea day and $250 credit. Ship moving quite slowly.

 

No stand up surfing on this ship on first day. Only boogie boarding. Raining hard at the moment so probably the Flowrider is not that great right now.

Andrew

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

Posted
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Just got off Liberty. Everything on the ship was working fine including the Flowrider.

We missed Jamaica and had an extra sea day and $250 credit. Ship moving quite slowly.

 

No stand up surfing on this ship on first day. Only boogie boarding. Raining hard at the moment so probably the Flowrider is not that great right now.

Andrew

 

Thanks for the update Andrew. Right now it is sunny and -5C in Southwestern Ontario. Have a safe journey home.

 

Andrew

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A2Mich

A2Mich

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Chengkp75--quick question for you. With all of the reported propulsion pod issues reported over the years on the RR Mermaid and the ABB pods, do you think cruise ships will ever go back to the shaft driven screws? Even with a diesel electric shaft drive, you would think that nearly any repair would be easier to make than with a pod system. I know one of the benefits of the pod system had been a reduction in interior space required, but with the relative frequency and cost of these failures, it would almost seem more logical to go back to something a bit simpler. You're the expert here, I was just throwing that out there, as it seems like we rarely ever heard of other mechanical failures causing so many issues as these pods do (outside of Carnival's generator failures).

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Chengkp75--quick question for you. With all of the reported propulsion pod issues reported over the years on the RR Mermaid and the ABB pods, do you think cruise ships will ever go back to the shaft driven screws? Even with a diesel electric shaft drive, you would think that nearly any repair would be easier to make than with a pod system. I know one of the benefits of the pod system had been a reduction in interior space required, but with the relative frequency and cost of these failures, it would almost seem more logical to go back to something a bit simpler. You're the expert here, I was just throwing that out there, as it seems like we rarely ever heard of other mechanical failures causing so many issues as these pods do (outside of Carnival's generator failures).

 

I'm not a big fan of pods, and most engineers aren't either. You can't get down into them when in operation, which my old school training says is a bad thing. NCL retrograded to shafted propulsion for the Epic, but then went back to pods on Breakaway since they believed the advances in pod technology warranted it. While the pods reduce the interior space required for the machinery, they also reduce the available space due to the requirement to have space under the hull to allow the pods to azimuth.

 

The main source of problems with the pods is the thrust bearing, and the newest ABB pods allow for renewing these without drydocking, so this removes a large dollar expense, even if they need a couple of port days to renew the bearings in service. The older style pods have problems with the bearing design and metallurgy. This is caused by trying to put a bearing capable of handling the large amount of thrust generated by the pod into a relatively small space inside the streamlined pod. For a comparable thrust bearing for either diesel or diesel electric drive, there is much more space available, so the unit loading on the bearing can be lower.

 

The advantage of the pods is two fold. One, since the azipod propellers are in front of the drive motor, there is an improvement in efficiency due to a clean water flow to the propeller. The major advantage is that instead of paying for a propulsion motor, shafting and bearings, propeller, rudder, steering motors, and thrusters, you only pay for the pod.

 

I think pods are here to stay, particularly for cruise ships, but it will take time to get the technology to meet the demands of design. Much of today's pod technology and design would be equivalent to "design test" in the aircraft industry. They can model this all they want to, until you build one of these bad boys, and strap it under a huge hull and try to push it through the ocean for a few years, you'll never really know how well it will work.

 

As for ease of maintenance and repair, yes, the shaft and rudder design is far and away easier to repair. You can take nearly everything apart while still in the water using divers. I repaired a stern thruster while still going from island to island in Hawaii. The divers would go down each port, unbolt propeller blades, hang them from chain hoists underwater, and work on renewing seals. About 2 hours before sailing, they would strap everything (loose prop blades even) back into the thruster tunnel, and call me to witness a video survey that everything was strapped down tight, and we would get underway, to repeat the process in the next port. It took about a week.

 

Sorry for the long answer to your quick question.

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

Posted
Posted
The Captain just announced that we won't be leaving port everglades until 3 AM Sunday (March 1st). Things aren't looking good for staying on schedule people!

 

Still waiting to board

 

Looks like a troll.

 

Roy

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