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The Ship of Lights at Chantiers. Name Splendour ofSbe Seas Shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique Owner Royal Caribean Cruises rnd. Delivery March 19> In a ceremony at Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, on March 15, 1996, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) Chairman and CEO Richard Fain accepted delivery of Splendour of the Seas, nicknamed The Ship Of Lights. The 69,500-gt ship began its inaugural summer season of 12-night cruises to the British Isles, Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Russia on March 31. On Nov. 1, Splendour crossed the Atlantic for a winter season of seven-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean from San Juan, Puerto Rico. In an interview with MR I EN in mid-1996 Mr. Fain explained how the construction of new ships such as Splendour is key to the company's strategy for growing business, especially in Europe. "We've made no seen of our goal of building ^ur European base. Most of Jmild- ing market shares com^s from building new ships /or these markets," said Mr. 9ain. Splendour kickafl off RCCL's introduction office new ships in five years. These new ships will reportedly ^ffer a combined total capacity of 7,900 passen- gers, 54 itineraries and 134 des- tinations worldwide. In addi- tion, RCCL has announced the commencement of a newbuild project known as Project Eagle, formulated in part by an 44 alliance with Mitsubishi^ although the first two sister- ships will be built by Kvaerner Masa-Yards. These ships will be built to emulate the success of Splendour of the Seas and the other Vision class ships. Splendour of the Seas Main Particulars > Length 866.7 ft. (264.2/ Width 104.9 ft. tffm) Draft 25.2 M7.7 m) Tonnage y^69,500 gt Speed ./. .. .24 knots Passengers . . /.. 2,060 Classification society Norske Veritas Order value $325 M Builder ./. . .Chantiers de l'Atlantique Owner >r. .Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Delivery d^re March 1996 Splendour of the Seas Machinery r Main engines Cegelec Generator engines . Wartsilo Diesel Generators GEC Alsthom, producing 5 x 11,350 kW Propellers ... .(2) Lips B.V., 4 blades Thrusters (2) Brunvoll bowthrusters, 2 x 1,500 kW Fin stabilizers (1) pair ACH, 16-cu-m Engine control Norcontrol Steering control . (2) Becker rudders, . .Frydenbo steering gears Radar Sperry Marine Lifeboats (10) Harding Tenders (4) Harding Liferafts (56) Viking Waste management system Deerberg Desalination equipment Brackett Green Lifts (17) Schindler Ballast control Norcontrol ^f3 Name Veendam Shipyard Fincantieri Owner Holland America Line Delivery May 1996 In 1992, with the launch of Statendam V, Holland America Line (HAL) embarked on a new phase of ship- building that also included the debut of Maasdam V in 1993 and Ryndam III in 1994. Veendam TV is the fourth ship in the Statendam series, and the contract for its con- struction was signed with Fincantieri on Dec. 10, 1993. This ship is the fourth to bear the same name in the 123-year history of HAL, and its name originates from the „ name of a town tha grew up near a dan/in an area of lakes ana marshes in the north of Holland where peat or "veen" is produced. Vg/endam I was built in 1881 by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Ireland, weighed more than 4,000 gt, was powered by steam and sails to a speed oy 13 knots, carried a large number of emigrants from the Netherlands to U.S., and eventually sank in the Atlantic. Modern-day Veendam is a 719.6-ft. (219.3-m) ship, which carries 1,266 passengers and a crew of 602, and is propelled to a speed of 22 knots. Commencement of steel cut- ting for Veendam TVs structure and unit fabrication both occurred in April 1994, followed by the official keel laying cere- mony in September of the same year. The ship was floated out from its building dock in Italy in June 1995, and the 55,451-gt MS Veendam entered service on May 25, 1996. During the ship's inaugural cruises in 1996 and again in 1997, HAL passengers travel Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, and from New tern Canada and Bermuda. Mr XL/ " M — \rd hfy, \ rw ciifsr vlgl r , -i r v* Shipyard photo of Veenaam's propeller supports. the Eastern and Westei York to New England, E< Veendam Main Particulars/Machinery Length \ 719.6 ft. (219.3 m) Width 101 ft. (30.8 m) Draft V 24.7 ft. (7.5 m) Tonnage A. 54,451 gt Speed V 22 knots Passengers \ 1,266 Classification society \ Lloyd's Register Order value \ $231 M Builder Fincantieri Ship's registry A. Bahamas Delivery date .\. April 1996 Propulsion power (2) 12\W ABB motors with KaMeWa CP propellers Side thrusters (3) ^760-kW KaMeWa, two bow, one stern Joystick ) KaMeWa Rudders (2) Flap Hinze Diesel engines (5) Sulzer medium-speed