The 2019 and '20 LNG ships

First renders;

The two newbuilds for Costa from Meyer Werft Turku (Finland), scheduled delivery 2019 and 2020.

Builder: Meyer Werft Turku OY

Length: 337 meter

Width: 42 meter

Bruto tonnage: 183.200 bruto tonnage

Cabins: 2605, a 63,7% of that are balcony cabins

Pax: 5176 double berth, (and an incredible 6600 max. capacity has been announced previously)

Crew: 1647

Two sister ships will be build at Meyer Werft Papenburg in Germany for German brand AIDA.

Besides the fact that the second render is speeding I do like these two Costa ships, it seems they've taken the best from multiple ships.

And they seemed to have found a solution for the large LNG tanks for the storage of the gas, inside somewhere instead of riding piggy back on top. :D

Additional rendering here:

I wonder what the structure is in the middle of the upper deck- a ride/track of some sort?

Additional rendering here:

 

 

I wonder what the structure is in the middle of the upper deck- a ride/track of some sort?

A Ski Jump?

If so, could get Eddie The Eagle to do the Christening.

Additional rendering here:

 

 

I wonder what the structure is in the middle of the upper deck- a ride/track of some sort?

It seems, to me, as some glass walled skywalk.

Underneath it are regular waterslides (white).

At the back of the ship I've spotted a movie screen with outdoor cascaded seating?

And the main pool seems to get a sliding roof, no real lido deck?

Aft waterfront/promenade deck has the alcoves from Celebrity?

And I really really like the normal looking funnel on this ship, Costa's are soo distinctive (in a bad way of modern ship design..).

Besides the fact that the second render is speeding I do like these two Costa ships, it seems they've taken the best from multiple ships.

 

And they seemed to have found a solution for the large LNG tanks for the storage of the gas, inside somewhere instead of riding piggy back on top. :D

While an extremely bold decision to announce the LNG power for these ships, I've got a few worries about them:

I doubt they will be 100% LNG fueled, as the engines are already touted as "dual fuel" which means they are designed to burn LNG and liquid fuel at the same time. Burning LNG as a percentage of the fuel will definitely reduce emissions.

The ship will have a significantly shorter "operating radius" since LNG requires 6 times the volume of an equivalent amount of residual fuel per million kcals.

The ship will have a limited itinerary, because even though the ships will not be out for 4-5 years, the infrastructure for refueling LNG is currently in its infancy (almost doesn't exist today), and may still be limited at the time of delivery of these ships.

Integral LNG tanks (unlike the on-deck ones you see on LNG ferries in Europe) are not allowed to be on the ships bottom or along the side of the ship, where fuel tanks are traditionally placed, so this will cause some significant changes to engine room layout, and since there are currently no, or a handful, of LNG powered ships operating today (other than LNG tankers), the whole concept of LNG tankage and systems onboard will be undergoing significant review for safety concerns as experience is gained over the years, and new regulations may be promulgated. These will be "guinea pig" ships.

Looking at the renderings, it shows 8 lifeboats / tenders on each side of the ship. With a maximum of 6600 passengers plus crew we are looking at over 8000 persons, which equates to over 500 persons per lifeboat.

Is this correct or am I missing something or just bad at maths?

Looking at the renderings, it shows 8 lifeboats / tenders on each side of the ship. With a maximum of 6600 passengers plus crew we are looking at over 8000 persons, which equates to over 500 persons per lifeboat.

 

Is this correct or am I missing something or just bad at maths?

I'm thinking they are looking for approval by the time of delivery for these ships of the "evacuation systems" that comprise large rafts (200+ capacity) with electric motors for propulsion. These would take up considerably less deck space. The double occupancy of these ships could be covered by the current 350+ capacity boats, and the extra passengers covered by the new systems.

Looking at the renderings, it shows 8 lifeboats / tenders on each side of the ship. With a maximum of 6600 passengers plus crew we are looking at over 8000 persons, which equates to over 500 persons per lifeboat.

 

Is this correct or am I missing something or just bad at maths?

Most crew goes in the rafts (those barrel things).

Fassmer in Germany builds their SEL 15.5 life boat for 414 capacity each. I think Quantum class has a few of them, along with a shorter version.

Epic also has the SEL type life boats in the same or a smaller size.

http://www.fassmer.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Salesblaetter_Lifeboats/FAS-SB-0005_SEL_12_5_LY02_al.pdf

600 more passengers than Oasis and Allure on a ship considerably smaller? Are you kidding me? Gonna be a very "friendly" group of passengers.