Best ever year for cruise ship Azipod orders

DECEMBER 6, 2013 — ABB says that 2013 will be its best year ever for cruise ship Azipod orders. It has won orders worth $180 million this year to deliver complete electrical power plants and propulsion systems for six new cruise liners with the latest-generation Azipod XO units.

The six ships include two for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), two for Royal Caribbean International and one each for Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines. The orders were booked over the course of the year, with about $30 million in the first quarter, about $90 million in the second, about $30 million in the third, and the remaining $30 million in the fourth.

“This is a remarkable run of orders for our cruise-ship power and propulsion systems, confirming ABB’s leading position in this high-end market,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “Since the launch of the Azipod XO, nearly all of the ships ordered will be equipped with this new generation unit.”

The two ships for NCL are the 4,200 passenger Breakaway Plus class vessels due for delivery from German shipyard Meyer Werft GmbH in October 2015 and spring 2017 respectively.

ABB will supply each ship with two Azipod XO units with combined propulsion power of almost 40 MW, three bow thrusters plus generators, transformers, frequency converters and related power system equipment. The installation includes ABB’s new “Intelligent Maneuvering Interface” (IMI), which is equipped with the “red dot” design award-winning ABB Azimuth lever and the Azipod Dynamic Optimizing system which can enable fuel savings of up to two percent.

The ships for Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines are under construction at Fincantieri  in Italy. For the 99,500 gt, 2,660-passenger, Holland America ship, ABB will supply the complete electrical power plant and propulsion system, with 28 MW of power. The133,500 gt, 4,000-passenger capacity Carnival Vista, will feature ABB power plant and propulsion systems, augmented by generators, main switchboards, a remote control system and distribution transformers.

One of the liners for Royal Caribbean International is the Oasis 3, due for delivery from STX France in the second quarter of 2016, equipped with three 20 MW Azipod XO units from ABB. The 225,282 gt, 5,400 passenger-capacity ship will also be equipped with ABB propulsion transformers, propulsion drives and remote control systems. The other, being built by Meyer Werft GmbH, will feature two 20.5 MW Azipod XO propulsion systems as well as generators, main switchboard, a remote control system, bow thruster motors and set of transformers. The ship will be delivered in April 2016.