MS Allure of the Seas

MS Allure of the Seas
Allure of the Seas in Falmouth, Jamaica
Career
Name: Allure of the Seas
Owner: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Operator: Royal Caribbean International
Port of registry: Nassau, Bahamas
Ordered: 31 March 2007[1][2]
Builder: STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland
Cost: US$1.2 billion (2006)
Yard number: 1364[1]
Laid down: 2 December 2008[3][4]
Launched: 20 November 2009[1][4]
Christened: 28 November 2010[5]
Maiden voyage: 1 December 2010[6]
Identification: Call sign: C6XS8
IMO number: 9383948
MMSI number: 311020700
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type:Oasis-class cruise ship
Tonnage:225,282 GT[2]
242,999 NT[2]
19,750 DWT[2]
Displacement:Approximately 100,000 tons[7]
Length:362 m (1,187 ft)[8]
Beam:47 m (154 ft) waterline[2]
60.5 m (198 ft) max beam[2]
Height:72 m (236 ft) above water line[4]
Draught:9.3 m (31 ft)[2]
Depth:22.5 m (74 ft)[2]
Decks:16 passenger decks[9][10]
Installed power:3 × 13,860 kW (18,590 hp) Wärtsilä 12V46D
3 × 18,480 kW (24,780 hp) Wärtsilä 16V46D
Propulsion:3 × 20 MW (27,000 hp) ABB Azipod,
      all azimuthing
4 × 5.5 MW (7,400 hp) Wärtsilä CT3500
      bow thrusters[11]
Speed:22.6 knots (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph)[8]
Capacity:5,400 passengers at double occupancy[12]
6,296 maximum[12]
Crew:2,384 as of July 2012[8]
Notes:50 mm (2.0 in) longer than Oasis[13]

MS Allure of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. The Oasis class are the largest passenger ships ever constructed, and Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, though both were built to the same specifications.[13] Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008.[14] She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister.[15] The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.[3] As of April 2015, she is technically the world's largest passenger cruise ship.

History

The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008 at the STX Europe shipyards in Turku, Finland, during a ceremony involving Royal Caribbean and STX representatives.[3] She was launched on 20 November 2009,[1] and outfitting continued through her departure from the yards. She left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010, at 05:45 UTC, heading directly to her future home port of Port Everglades, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.[16] The ship is equipped with telescoping funnels to pass under bridges such as the Storebælt Bridge, which she passed on 30 October 2010. While media has reported that there was only 30 centimetres (12 in) of clearance, the truth is that at the mean water level it was closer to 2–3 metres (6.6–9.8 ft) and the much-advertised squat effect, whereby vessels traveling at speed in a shallow channel will be drawn deeper into the water, did not have significant effect on the draft of the vessel.[13]

On 11 November 2010, at approximately 09:30 EST, Allure of the Seas arrived at her home port of Port Everglades, Florida. She was greeted by thousands of spectators waiting on the shore.

The ship was formally named by her godmother Princess Fiona on 28 November 2010.[5]

Technical details

While the design length of Allure of the Seas is the same as that of her sister, 360 metres (1,181 ft),[2] she is actually some 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than Oasis of the Seas. According to the shipyard, this is not intentional and such small differences in length may occur simply due to the temperature of the steel in a ship as big as this.[13] The gross tonnage of Allure of the Seas is 225,282 and her displacement is equal to that of Oasis of the Seas, which is estimated to be around 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.[7] Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons.[13]

The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, an ice skating rink, 7 distinct "neighborhoods", and 25 dining options,[17] including the first Starbucks coffee shop at sea.[18] Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.[19]

Before beginning service from Port Everglades, Allure was fitted with an 80 kW solar array by BAM Energy Group which powers the shopping district. The system cost US$600,000 and covers an area of 2,000 m2 (21,530 sq ft). It uses Uni-Solar BIPV laminates designed to withstand foot traffic and marine conditions.[20][21]

Gallery


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Asklander, Micke. "M/S Allure of the Seas (2010)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "Allure of the Seas". Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "STX Europe laid keel of Allure of the Seas". Cruise Business Review. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Allure of the Seas Delivered". MarineLink.com. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sloan, Gene (29 November 2010). "Princess Fiona names world's largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas". USA Today. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  6. ↑ Heslin, Rebecca (30 March 2010). "Royal Caribbean pushes up Allure's debut again". USA Today. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "If Royal Caribbean builds it, 6,400 could come". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. 7 February 2006.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Allure of the Seas". Royal Caribbean. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012.
  9. ↑ "Allure of the Seas". RoyalCaribbean.com. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  10. ↑ Schlesinger, Toni (11 February 2011). "On the World's Largest Cruise Ship, the Sea is an Afterthought". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ "Allure of the Seas: Machinery Summary". Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Allure of the Seas: Fast Facts" (PDF). AllureoftheSeas.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Sjöström, Pär-Henrik (10 December 2010). "Larger than her sister". Shipgaz (6): p. 22.
  14. ↑ "Production of the second Oasis class cruise vessel started". STX Europe. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  15. ↑ Sloan, Gene (23 May 2008). "Royal Caribbean's next ships will be Oasis, Allure". USA Today. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Allure of the Seas". MarineTraffic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  17. ↑ Driscoll, Ron (31 January 2010). "Super-sized Oasis of the Seas". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  18. ↑ Skipper, Joe; Fletcher, Pascal; Brown, Tom (11 November 2010). Boadle, Anthony, ed. "First Starbucks at sea steams into Florida port". Reuters.com. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Cruise ships". ClarissaParish.com. Retrieved January 2012.
  20. ↑ Hughes, Emma (7 January 2011). "United Solar completes second BIPV installation on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship". Design-Build Solar. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013.
  21. ↑ "Uni-Solar Brand Photovoltaics Set Sail on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas" (Press release). Energy Conversion Devices via GlobeNewswire. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013.

External links

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