World's largest cruise ship - Is it a barge?

[mugaliens]

Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship from Royal Caribbean, set sail from Finland, today.

Just looking at it, I couldn't help but notice the lack of freeboard, and thought it looked more like a barge with light storm-penetrating capability than a more traditional ocean-going vessel.

However, with seven "neighborhoods," your next vacation might include a shift on the neighborhood watch.

It caught my eye, as I've a cousin who works aboard cruise ships, and she loves it!

[Trebuchet]

If it's really the world's largest, I'm guessing the freeboard is more than it looks like -- it's just that the ship is so large. Eyeballing it based on the five tiers of windows shown in the front of the superstructure, I'd guess freeboard is 40-50 feet at least. I don't know how that compares to a normal sized ship.

[Nicolas]

http://images.vesseltracker.com/imag...eas-302262.jpg

Going by the regular definition of "freeboard", being the height between the water and the lowest point where water can enter the ship, the Oasis of the sea's freeboard is about as a high as a large tow boat. Which is a lot indeed. If you take into account that those holes you see likely are closed by windows right now, it gains even more freeboard, all the way up to the antenna height of the tow boat. But even if those holes remain holes (which happens, can be handy for the crew when mooring), there's plenty of freeboard.

The ship is more than 300m long, that might give a wrong judgement. 360m long to be exact, and it towers 65m above the water line...

Anyway, I work on dredge vessels. They have dredge marks which are lower than regular marks, meaning you can load them more under certain conditions. That way, a ship of 150m can have a freeboard of only about 3m when full. I also work on huge dredge barges (over 100m long),and they sometimes have a freeboard of less than 2m when level. When having some pich, one end can have zero freeboard.

[Nicolas]

Edit to add: just seen footage of the finished ship. At the sides, there's a row of smaller windows at the bottom. If we define those windows as freeboard, it's still about as high as the bridge of a tow boat. I think those windows are at the same height as the holes you see in the pic I linked in my previous posts.

[Trebuchet]

I suspect those openings in your linked picture are into an open deck area for the crew to work in mooring. But are not open into the actual interior of the ship except through water-tight doors.

I would rather be on a much smaller ship if I ever go on a cruise again. As opposed to being out there with 5000 of my closest friends.

Edit to add: Isn't "Oasis of the Seas" an oxymoron? Oases are, by definition, in the middle of a dessert.

[mugaliens]

Edit to add: Isn't "Oasis of the Seas" an oxymoron? Oases are, by definition, in the middle of a dessert.

That's marketing for you...

[Trebuchet]

I suppose if an ordinary oasis is a wet place in the middle of a dessert, an oasis of the seas could be a dry place in the middle of water. Sort of.

[SkepticJ]

Oceans aren't exactly friendly places to terrestrial animals.

They're like wet deserts. The water is toxic to drink because of the high salt content.

[Nicolas]

As opposed to being out there with 5000 of my closest friends.

I read 9000 in case of this ship. But maybe 4000 of them are crew. They are being paid to be your closest friends.

[Trebuchet]

I read 9000 in case of this ship. But maybe 4000 of them are crew. They are being paid to be your closest friends.

5000 was just my guess. Later I read the line's website; it turns out the passenger capacity is 5400 at double occupancy.

So 3600 of them are being paid. But not much, at least by our standards.

[Chuck]

When the world runs out of oil in a couple of years we can convert the oil tankers to cruise ships. Of course, we'll have to cut slits in the hulls for the oars.

[Perikles]

When the world runs out of oil in a couple of years we can convert the oil tankers to cruise ships. Of course, we'll have to cut slits in the hulls for the oars.

Forget the slits: a massive gymnasium inside, with 4000 exercise bicycles all turning the propellers.

[Stregone]

Or those ancient devices, "sails" I think they are called?

[Perikles]

Or those ancient devices, "sails" I think they are called?

The thing looks as if it will keel over sideways anyway even without sails. Why didn't they call it the Mary Rose?

[danscope]

Question: "What's the difference between a really large cruise ship and .....
a small cruise ship? " Answer: The Large ship burns longer.

[Chuck]

The sails idea is good. Wet laundry can also be hung from the masts so no power dryers will be needed. The oars can be a backup. The exercise bikes can run a propeller during low wind and generate electricity for the rich passengers above deck.

[mugaliens]

If you build it large enough, you'll still have some freeboard left after she hits bottom...

Seriously, there wasn't much room left when she sailed beneath a Danish bridge. Two feet, huh?

To clarify the stats, it accomodates up to 6,360 pax and 2,160 crew. It typically carries 5,400 pax.

[publiusr]

Queen Mary 2 is a true Ocean Liner, more robust than cruise ships than need calmer waters.

Some big ship pix...

Something you don't see every day:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/3...f733ff0a_o.jpg

from...
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2006...ld-part-1.html
http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.c...ects/adriatic/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian..._power_station Perfect for Sea Dragon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Ship
http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...31.html?page=3

JMOB pdf--big
http://www.dynamic-positioning.com/d...n_berkeley.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_offshore_base
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP0807053.html

Then there is always the flip ship...

[captain swoop]

Most Cruise Ships (esp the Carribean ones) are no mor ethan Coastal Craft.

[jokergirl]

Wow, I love the barge barge, publiusr.

[Nicolas]

Queen Mary 2 is a true Ocean Liner, more robust than cruise ships than need calmer waters.

When a seagoing vessel gets its certificates, is there any maximally allowed sea state mentioned? If so, what is it for QM2 and what is it for a huge cruis ship such as the Oasis?

[Nicolas]

Question: "What's the difference between a really large cruise ship and .....
a small cruise ship? " Answer: The Large ship burns longer.

I just got the news that one of our ships burnt out No casualties luckily.

[captain swoop]

When a seagoing vessel gets its certificates, is there any maximally allowed sea state mentioned? If so, what is it for QM2 and what is it for a huge cruis ship such as the Oasis?

Certification is a long and complex business. the International Maritime Organisation set general standards which are then used as the basis for the various licensing and registration authorities in the 'Flag' nations.

SOLAS is the basic set of certificates.

[Nicolas]

I know there's a lot of certificates involved, and that the ship gets a stability analysis, but I haven't encountered an actual certified limiting sea state for a vessel yet. Mainly because I don't go through the certificates in my job. But I was wondering whether indeed each vessel has such a certified limit and if so how much it differes between the QM2 and the Oasis.

[danscope]

"One of the single gravest threats to passenger safety is a fire onboard the cruise ship, and of the 17 major cruise ship accidents that took place during the decade between 1985 and 1995, nine involved fires. Carnival Cruise Lines has seen several dangerous fires aboard the Tropicale and the Ecstasy, and the recent tragedy of the Star Princess of Princess Cruises (owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.) was the site of at least one American death."

Hmmmm......... safer on the golf course. See ya .

[captain swoop]

What's this thing you have about fire?

[danscope]

Hi, I lived on subs . Fire aboard any vessel is the worst condition you can
have. The larger the vessel, the larger and more likely the problem. Anyone considering cruise ships should at least be aware of this ...shall we say
"recurring' problem". In my opinion, don't use carnival.

Dan

[captain swoop]

Also the larger the ship the more facilities there is for controlling a fire. Although I very much doubt that the crew of a cruise ship ave been through the Firefightin School at HMS Raleigh and a fire in the passenger decks of a cruise liner would be harder to control than one on a warship. Looking at the outcomers of the Falklands War it was fire that caused the damage on a lot of the ships rather than the direct results of bomb or missile hits.
On a large ship you get to be able to play with a lot more water through the hoses before you sink the ship than you do on a smaller vessel

[danscope]

Hi, You're right there. The problems often extend from the untrained passengers , and what ever collective discipine they may have, getting in the way. There was one case of the crew abandoning ship before the passengers
which is dreadfull. I am hoping that the experience of the last 15 years has brought a renewed sense of awareness, both to passengers and crew training
as well as design preparedness so as to thwart future dangers in this regard.
Well.... nuff said.
Best regards,
Dan

[captain swoop]

Passenger spaces tend to be large and uncompartmented, cabin spaces are full of bedding and clothes. If there's a fire it spreads. Water up top can cause stability problems.

We had a fire in the Laundry on one of the Leanders I was on. We had smoke right through the ship before we had chance to shut down the fans and close baffles and hatches etc, a larger ship would have been effected a lot less.