QM2 Pods; Rolls Royce pays

[Salacia]

Perhaps this might be of interest:

 

A Miami jury has awarded $24 million to Carnival Corp. in its lawsuit against Rolls-Royce PLC involving claims of a faulty propulsion system aboard the luxury liner Queen Mary 2.

 

Quoted from http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12548694

 

 

-Salacia

[Whitemarsh]

Rolls Royce are not in the good books with QANTAS either.

 

QANTAS grounded it's fleet of A380s after a flight from Singapore had to make an emergency landing after a Rolls Royce engine blew up.

 

Strange how the company (Rolls Royce) is so adept at making cars yet seemingly inept when it comes to planes and boats.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/8241898/Qantas-aims-to-return-A380-service-to-Los-Angeles.html

[guernseyguy]

Strange how the company (Rolls Royce) is so adept at making cars yet seemingly inept when it comes to planes and boats.

 

They are completely separate companies - Rolls Royce Motor Cars is owned by BMW, while Rolls Royce plc is an aerospace and defence group - the second largest maker of aircraft engines after GE.

 

Since they have just announced a sale to BA of $5billion's worth of Trent 900 engines (the one Qantas had a problem with) I suspect they'll survive a $24million fine - and not too sure how happy Carnival will be as they were asking for $100 million.

[K3nn7]

Strange how the company (Rolls Royce) is so adept at making cars yet seemingly inept when it comes to planes and boats.

 

British Airways have 50 747-400s with RR engines currently operational in their fleet. Also several other carriers around the world are using RR on their planes, so i dont think inept is the right word to use here. Even tought VW or Toyota had a model or two with failures, you cant say their full product line is or has been a failure? ;)

[Whitemarsh]

British Airways have 50 747-400s with RR engines currently operational in their fleet. Also several other carriers around the world are using RR on their planes, so i dont think inept is the right word to use here. Even tought VW or Toyota had a model or two with failures, you cant say their full product line is or has been a failure? ;)

 

Yes I guess you're right. But they are having a run of bad luck.

[capnpugwash]

Yes I guess you're right. But they are having a run of bad luck.

 

A bit like the Australian cricket team :eek:

[shorebilly]

Dec 19th-Jan3 cruise on QM2 was delayed several hour getting into one of the ports due to a problem with the propulsion system. It cut our time on the island by several hours.

[Whitemarsh]

A bit like the Australian cricket team :eek:

 

Rugby, cricket, floods......... and Kevin Rudd as the Foreign Minister.

 

Things are not looking good for OZ.

[Cruise Liner Fan]

Does anyone know if there are any rival companies that manufacture propulsion pods for ships? If there is one maybe Cunard/Carnival Corp. should replace the Rolls Royce pods attached to the QM2 with the pods from a rival company. Regards,Jerry

[TheOldBear]

The major competitor [and generic term] is Azipod

 

They are probably not interchangeable - the hydrodynamics of the pods will be totally different, even if the electrical portions are 'plug compatible'

[kelmac]

Does anyone know if there are any rival companies that manufacture propulsion pods for ships? If there is one maybe Cunard/Carnival Corp. should replace the Rolls Royce pods attached to the QM2 with the pods from a rival company. Regards,Jerry

 

Celebrity's four Millennium class ships also have the Rolls Royce pods. They had several years of problems with these propulsion pods; I wonder if RR will settle a similar suite with RCI?

[guernseyguy]

Celebrity's four Millennium class ships also have the Rolls Royce pods. They had several years of problems with these propulsion pods; I wonder if RR will settle a similar suite with RCI?

 

AFAIK they already have - for $65m.

[kelmac]

AFAIK they already have - for $65m.

 

Thanks guernseyguy!

 

Celebrity's pod problems seemed to effect three of their four Millennium Class ships, so I guess $65 million would be comparable to Cunard's $24 million?

 

Did RR get out of the pod business?

 

Thanks,

Kel:)

[UUNetBill]

Dec 19th-Jan3 cruise on QM2 was delayed several hour getting into one of the ports due to a problem with the propulsion system. It cut our time on the island by several hours.

 

Did anyone ever find out what happened with this 'minor glitch'? One of my friends told me he looked out his window in the middle of the night and we were barely moving. . .he made it sound like we were almost dead in the water for a while, but when I looked out in the morning, we were making tracks. . .

:confused:

[guernseyguy]

Did RR get out of the pod business?

 

Its still on their web site but I don't know if they have sold any recently. As well as QM2/Millennium Class they sold two Mermaid pods to the French Navy for their helicopter carrier Mistral.

[retafcruiser]

I suspect that pod propulsion is quickly losing favor with the shipping industry. Problems have led to extensive and expensive down-time for the cruise lines with many unscheduled dry dockings and loss of revenue. It would not surprise me to see the QM2's service life to be far shorter than originally planned.

[guernseyguy]

It would not surprise me to see the QM2's service life to be far shorter than originally planned.

 

QM2's pod problems are nothing compared to QE2's original engine problems. While Rolls Royce had teething troubles with their Mermaid pods, ABB's Azipods have continued to sell. They are a heck of a lot easier to replace than a traditional in-hull engine!

[retafcruiser]

...They are a heck of a lot easier to replace than a traditional in-hull engine!

That is certainly true. But think of the QE2 - once the propulsion change was made, did they ever suffer any major problems? Certainly the diesels were undergoing constant maintenance (as are the QM2 and all other diesel engined ships), but I don't recall the electric motors ever being taken out of service. They were probably inspected at dry dock, but I don't recall any publicised problems with them.

[Jim Avery]

I suppose this pod issue could be the main reason for the 6/7 day transatlantics. Anyone know if poor old QM2 is capable of 30 knots anymore?:(

[capnpugwash]

I suppose this pod issue could be the main reason for the 6/7 day transatlantics. Anyone know if poor old QM2 is capable of 30 knots anymore?:(

 

I think that the 7 day trip is an extra means of revenue production by Cunard. They charge extra for the seven day voyage and of course the passengers spend more whilst on board. The reduced speed saves using the expensive high grade fuel needed to run the turbines whereas the standard engines which suffice for the lower speed will run well on bog standard diesel. Thus they winn in three ways. This info about the fuel etc comes from when I shared a table with the Chief Engineer on QM2 last summer.

[Jim Avery]

All good points and I am sure very true but I do miss the excitement of 30 knot bursts on the old 5 day crossings. You could fly over, spend a day or so in London and sail back all in a week's holiday.

[capnpugwash]

All good points and I am sure very true but I do miss the excitement of 30 knot bursts on the old 5 day crossings. You could fly over, spend a day or so in London and sail back all in a week's holiday.

 

Unfortunately I never experienced the 5 day trip but I also miss the 6 day crossings and the higher speeds involved. The current speed is pedestrian to say the least.

[Jim Avery]

Unfortunately I never experienced the 5 day trip but I also miss the 6 day crossings and the higher speeds involved. The current speed is pedestrian to say the least.

 

Yes, it was exciting to be on deck, doing 30 knots, at night, in a Tux, with a martini, Mr. Bond.:D

[kelmac]

I suppose this pod issue could be the main reason for the 6/7 day transatlantics. Anyone know if poor old QM2 is capable of 30 knots anymore?:(

 

Not sure, but we did do some time at 27 knots for our Holiday cruise. (19 Dec 2010). Many hours were spent at 25 knots -- still the fastest ship we've been on and it handles the sea better than all the rest!

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[E1nstein]

FYI - Rolls Royce that make engines are NOT the same as Rolls Royce who make the cars - they are differently owned companies.