MS Brilliance of the Seas

Brilliance of the Seas docked at Valletta, Malta, following the heeling incident at Alexandria
Name: Brilliance of the Seas
Owner:

Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd. (1998-2014)[1]

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (2014-present)[2]
Operator: RCL UK Ltd. →
RCL Cruises Limited[1]
Port of registry: Nassau,  Bahamas[3]
Ordered: 9 April 1998
Builder: Meyer Werft, (Papenburg, Germany)[3]
Cost: US $350 million[3]
Yard number: 656
Laid down: 25 June 1998[1]
Launched: 1 December 2001[1]
Christened: July 13, 2002 by Marilyn Ofer in Harwich, England[4]
Acquired: 5 July 2002[1]
Maiden voyage: 19 July 2002[5]
In service: 2002-present
Identification: Call sign: C6SJ5
DNV ID: 21563
IMO number: 9195200
MMSI number: 311361000
Status: In service
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:Radiance-class cruise ship
Tonnage:90,090 GT
53,812 NT
10,759 DWT[1]
Length:292 m (958 ft 0 in)
Beam:39.8 m (130 ft 7 in)[1]
Draft:8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)[1]
Depth:11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Decks:12 decks[3]
Installed power:Two General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines (20.5 MW each)[3][6]
Propulsion:Diesel-electric
Two ABB Azipods (2 × 19.5 MW)[3]
Three bow thrusters[6]
Speed:25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)[3]
Capacity:2,501 passengers
Crew:859
Brilliance of the Seas in Trunk Bay, St. John, Virgin Islands National Park, 2008.

MS Brilliance of the Seas is a cruise ship belonging to the Royal Caribbean's Radiance class. It cruises the Mediterranean from April to January, and is based in Dubai - sailing to ports around the Middle East and India - from November to April, doing two repositioning cruises each year which take it through the Suez Canal. Brilliance of the Seas is operated by RCL UK Ltd., a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

In March 2011, Royal Caribbean International announced that Brilliance of the Seas will reposition to Northern Europe for the summer of 2012. She will be homeported at Amsterdam and Copenhagen to go on cruises to the Norwegian Fjords and the Arctic Circle and the Baltic, between 7 and 12 nights. After her Northern Europe season between May and September 2012, Brilliance of the Seas will cruise to Canada and New England between September and October 2012. She will then sail from Cape Liberty and San Juan to the Southern Caribbean.

Itineraries

Brilliance of the Seas currently (November 2013 thru April 2014) sails from Tampa, Florida with Western Caribbean ports including Georgetown, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico

Characteristics

Incidents

On December 11, 2010, Brilliance of the Seas left Rhodes, Greece on a 6-port cruise to Alexandria, Egypt, and other stops around the eastern Mediterranean and experienced very high seas and hurricane force winds overnight. During the night, winds were noted by passengers watching the ship's heading and statistics channel to max out at around 82 miles per hour. At around 2:15 AM, it is reported that in a cluster of ships rushing to enter the port of Alexandria, a freighter turned in front of the Brilliance of the Seas, forcing the ship's captain, Erik Tengelsen, to slow her below the 9 knots necessary to maintain her stabilizers' function. Brilliance of the Seas was thus at the mercy of 50 to 60 foot waves and started to heel port and starboard violently. Passengers reported that they were thrown out of beds; furniture and unsecured objects tossed and slid about their staterooms. Two grand pianos broke free and were demolished during the incident. Windows and mirrors were smashed, and the spa basins were damaged. A reported 105 passengers needed medical treatment for their injuries, although that number continues to be disputed by both passengers and Royal Caribbean International interests. The heeling incident lasted several minutes, after which the Captain acknowledged that it had been a "horrifying experience." Captain Erik reported to news outlets that he was taken by surprise at the force of the storm when, he said, weather reports leaving Rhodes only forecast winds at 40 mph. That claim however flies in the face of some reports by passengers who said the captain warned them via the ship's intercom system soon after leaving Greece to prepare for a bumpy night with "very high seas" and winds as much as 60 mph. It is for that reason that many passengers felt the Captain and Royal Caribbean were partly responsible for the horrifying heeling incident that passengers were subjected to, since they knew well in advance what the potential for trouble was. The next morning, Royal Caribbean International announced through its crew that a $200 per-stateroom refund would be given. Following a brief, but vocal outrage in the Centrum Lobby, Royal reconsidered and announced that on top of the $200, passengers could also expect a full refund of each passenger's stateroom fare.[7]

George Allen Smith controversy

In July 2005, Royal Caribbean was plagued by a controversy that involved the disappearance of one of their passengers, George Allen Smith. Smith disappeared on July 5, when the Brilliance of the Seas was between Greece and Turkey.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Brilliance of the Seas (21563)". DNV Exchange. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  2. ↑ "Form 8-K for ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Ward, Douglas (2005). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. ISBN 978-981-246-510-8.
  4. ↑ "Marilyn Ofer". ZoomInfo. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  5. ↑ Brilliance Of The Seas Facts
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Brilliance of the Seas Fast Facts sheet" (PDF). Royal Caribbean International. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  7. ↑ "www.fairplay.co.uk - Cruise injury count rockets". 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2010-12-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brilliance of the Seas (ship, 2002).