MS Noordam

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Noordam
Placed in Service:	2006
Status:	in service
Tonnage:	81,769 gross tons
Length:	935 feet
Beam:	106 feet
Decks:	11
Complement:	1,918 passengers, 810 crew
Registry:	Netherlands

MS Noordam has been the name of several ships run by the Holland America Line.

[edit] Past Noordams

The first ran a transatlantic route from Rotterdam to New York, primarily delivering immigrants, between 1902 and 1928. The second, built in 1938 by P. Smit Jr. in Rotterdam, had a cruising speed of 18 knots. Her gross tonnage was 10,704 tonnes. She was renamed Oceanien in 1963, and was scrapped in Yugoslavia in 1967.

The third Noordam was the first for luxury cruise service. Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in 1984, had a gross tonnage of 33,933 tonnes and was 704 ft (215 m) long. The ship's beam was 89 ft (27 m) and draft was 24 ft (7.3 m); her cruising speed was 21 knots. Her standard capacity was 1,214 with all 607 cabins at double occupancy; her maximum capacity was 1,350 passengers and she had 560 crew members. In 2005, the ship was acquired by Louis Cruise Lines and was immediately chartered to Thomson Cruises; she was rechristened the Thomson Celebration. Her sister ship, the Thomson Spirit, was originally the Holland America ship Nieuw Amsterdam.

[edit] 2006 Noordam

The latest ship to bear the moniker Noordam (the Dutch word for North) is a member of Holland America's Vista class. The ship was christened on February 22, 2006, in New York City by the actress Marlee Matlin. The Noordam is the sister ship of the MS Oosterdam, MS Westerdam, and MS Zuiderdam. All of these ships are named for the four compass points.

MS Noordam in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

The ship is powered by a CODAG arrangement of five diesel generators (3 x 16,000 HP units, and 2 x 12,000 HP units) and one gas turbine (18,000 HP), for a total power output of approximately 62.6MW (84,000 HP). The power generated is used both for propulsion, via two 17.5MW (23,467 HP) ABB Azipods, and the ship's "hotel load," which includes HVAC and freshwater production. It is capable of producing 1,700 tons (450,000 gallons) of fresh water daily via desalinization, although average consumption is only around 750 tons/day (200,000 gallons). The ship consumes approximately 216 tons/day (57,000 U.S. gallons) of heavy fuel oil, and 90 tons/day (23,000 U.S. gallons) of marine gas oil, at peak power production. It can achieve a maximum speed of approximately 24 knots. As of December 2006, the ship's master was listed as Captain John Scott.