Awessome. Watch a cruise ship get built - time lapse

[OlsSalt]

No, its not the Konigsdam but the Aida Prima in Nagasaki, Japan - but what a process to observe. Did not realize there were so many prebuilts later stacked on that created the internal components we come to know as the "hotel" side of the ship.

 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/06/18/watch-a-cruise-ship-get-built-from-the-ground-up-in-incredible-time-lapse-video/?utm_source=TheBlaze.com&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=story&utm_content=watch-a-cruise-ship-get-built-from-the-ground-up-in-incredible-time-lapse-video

Edited June 18, 2016 by OlsSalt

[aliaschief]

No, its not the Konigsdam but the Aida Prima in Nagasaki, Japan - but what a process to observe. Did not realize there were so many prebuilts later stacked on that created the internal components we come to know as the "hotel" side of the ship.

 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/06/18/watch-a-cruise-ship-get-built-from-the-ground-up-in-incredible-time-lapse-video/?utm_source=TheBlaze.com&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=story&utm_content=watch-a-cruise-ship-get-built-from-the-ground-up-in-incredible-time-lapse-video

 

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[joepeka]

How cool is that? It's like a gigantic Lego toy being put together a piece at a time. Was really interesting to see the engine room components being set in place. Thanks for posting this! :)

[OlsSalt]

On our last cruise, we saw the Queen Mary II in dry dock in Hamburg. Kind of like seeing a grand lady with her knickers down.

 

Good to be reminded these are massive machines with many, many moving parts. While we passengers only worry about getting freshly squeezed orange juice at the Lido. :cool:

Edited June 18, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Daisyloo]

Thanks for that. Really interesting.

[nutensteve]

Great video ... interesting to see how it is all put together. Thanks for posting it.

[freestyling]

Thanks for posting. Very interesting

[donaldsc]

Cool!!

 

Don

[Krazy Kruizers]

Fascinating

Thank you for sharing the link.

[jhannah]

Thanks. Most fascinating! Those were some large pre-fab sections!

Edited June 18, 2016 by jhannah

[OlsSalt]

Looking for more info about the AIDA cruise line I found this link that also listed the "Top 10 cruise ships" (by whatever criteria they use) -- but there holding her own was the MS Konigsdsam.

 

http://www.cruiseshipschedule.com/aida-cruises/

 

We had an AIDA ship following us around on our recent Scotland/Baltic cruise - a German cruise company. First I thought it was a NCL when I saw the curly-cue painted bow. Then the face and that is the AIDA signature.

[ski ww]

Thanks for the post. It was amazing to see the ship come together.

Allan

[sapper1]

Thank you for posting such an interesting video. Actually, I found it quite fascinating.

[chengkp75]

How cool is that? It's like a gigantic Lego toy being put together a piece at a time. Was really interesting to see the engine room components being set in place. Thanks for posting this! :)

 

Thanks. Most fascinating! Those were some large pre-fab sections!

 

Our internet reception onboard is so bad we can't get most videos links, so I haven't seen this one, but have built a few ships. All ships are built this way these days, they assemble "blocks" of a size that can be handled by transporters or within buildings on land, and then the blocks are combined into "grand blocks" which are generally limited in size by the capacity of the largest crane in the shipyard.

 

We did some interesting builds a few years back in Philadelphia, where the yard was building two ships at a time in the same drydock. They would complete the after section, including the house and engine room, then scoot it forward on hydraulic rams. They would then complete the forward sections of the ship, while starting the aft section of the next ship behind it. When the first ship was ready to float, they put a door into the drydock to separate the two ships, flooded the front of the dock and took the ship out. Pump the dock dry, lift out the door, scoot the aft section forward, and repeat for 12 ships.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Our internet reception onboard is so bad we can't get most videos links, so I haven't seen this one, but have built a few ships. All ships are built this way these days, they assemble "blocks" of a size that can be handled by transporters or within buildings on land, and then the blocks are combined into "grand blocks" which are generally limited in size by the capacity of the largest crane in the shipyard.

 

We did some interesting builds a few years back in Philadelphia, where the yard was building two ships at a time in the same drydock. They would complete the after section, including the house and engine room, then scoot it forward on hydraulic rams. They would then complete the forward sections of the ship, while starting the aft section of the next ship behind it. When the first ship was ready to float, they put a door into the drydock to separate the two ships, flooded the front of the dock and took the ship out. Pump the dock dry, lift out the door, scoot the aft section forward, and repeat for 12 ships.

 

That's why we have T Mobile

[bishop84]

I heard that AIDA had a penalty clause in the building contract with Mitsubishi Heavy that equaled the daily charter rate for the ship for everyday it was delayed. Due to the significant delays during construction the penalty charge has virtually paid for the second ship, AIDAperla, being built at the same yard! Has anyone else heard similar and knows if this is true or not?

Edited June 19, 2016 by bishop84

[chengkp75]

That's why we have T Mobile

 

 

When you're anchored 5 miles off Galveston, the choices and coverage are slim.

[chengkp75]

I heard that AIDA had a penalty clause in the building contract with Mitsubishi Heavy that equaled the daily charter rate for the ship for everyday it was delayed. Due to the significant delays during construction the penalty charge has virtually paid for the second ship, AIDAperla, being built at the same yard! Has anyone else heard similar and knows if this is true or not?

 

It is almost universal to have delay clauses in shipbuilding contracts. From what I see, and I don't know the original delivery date other than "first half of 2015", and the actual delivery in March this year, let's assume it is a year overdue. Generally, the penalty is based on the daily revenue the ship is expected to earn. So, this would amount to about a year's revenue, which would be no where near the half billion + cost of the next ship. Maybe 1/10th to 1/15th, but nearly the total cost would be extremely unusual.

[Mosaic]

They missed a bolt...

[OlsSalt]

Our internet reception onboard is so bad we can't get most videos links, so I haven't seen this one, but have built a few ships. All ships are built this way these days, they assemble "blocks" of a size that can be handled by transporters or within buildings on land, and then the blocks are combined into "grand blocks" which are generally limited in size by the capacity of the largest crane in the shipyard.

 

We did some interesting builds a few years back in Philadelphia, where the yard was building two ships at a time in the same drydock. They would complete the after section, including the house and engine room, then scoot it forward on hydraulic rams. They would then complete the forward sections of the ship, while starting the aft section of the next ship behind it. When the first ship was ready to float, they put a door into the drydock to separate the two ships, flooded the front of the dock and took the ship out. Pump the dock dry, lift out the door, scoot the aft section forward, and repeat for 12 ships.

 

Thank you for your insights to this fascinating process. Where do they manufacture the larger components that get hauled later and placed on the ship's frame in the dry dock. Are they completed close by or hauled in from a greater distance.

 

Watching this process gives new perspective to our front office complaints when the plumbing in one cabin does not work. Good grief, this is a tangle of pipes and conduits. How can it ever be sorted out one all is deeply embedded in place.

 

Can you tell us more about how all of these components get welded together? Obviously there has to be zero risk tolerance for that endeavor. Do they get welded both inside and out? Who checks, rechecks and checks again each weld will do its job and then some.

 

When a ship crashes through high seas how much "flexibility" does it need (like an airplane) or does the end up just one single inflexible whole?

 

Sorry you cannot see the video - you might be able to independently google "AIDAprima time lapse". Thanks again for your insights.

 

PS: watching the AIDAprima getting towed out of dry dock for its very first sea trial I could not help but remember our recent visit to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm when way back when, in front of the king and everyone, the brand new Vasa fighting ship bristling with cannons promptly tipped over and sunk to the bottom of the Stockholm harbor to lay resting there fully intact for centuries.

 

As explained, they had no means back then to know the engineering demands for weight distribution and proper buoyancy. They have an interactive video in the excellent museum that lets one "redesign" the Vasa - to see if you can make better decisions about its dimensions and carrying capacities. In an instant today, you learn whether your own re-design sinks or sails.

Edited June 19, 2016 by OlsSalt

[chengkp75]

Thank you for your insights to this fascinating process. Where do they manufacture the larger components that get hauled later and placed on the ship's frame in the dry dock. Are they completed close by or hauled in from a greater distance.

 

Watching this process gives new perspective to our front office complaints when the plumbing in one cabin does not work. Good grief, this is a tangle of pipes and conduits. How can it ever be sorted out one all is deeply embedded in place.

 

Can you tell us more about how all of these components get welded together? Obviously there has to be zero risk tolerance for that endeavor. Do they get welded both inside and out? Who checks, rechecks and checks again each weld will do its job and then some.

 

When a ship crashes through high seas how much "flexibility" does it need (like an airplane) or does the end up just one single inflexible whole?

 

Sorry you cannot see the video - you might be able to independently google "AIDAprima time lapse". Thanks again for your insights.

 

No, it doesn't matter how I try to access most video feeds, it just times out. We are on a narrow bandwidth satellite internet, and weather and vessel heading complicate the issues.

 

In the shipyard, there will be a steel cutting hall, where all the complex pieces of steel are cut by computer driven torches, and then the plates and shapes are taken to an erection shed, where the blocks are assembled, typically with all piping and ductwork done, not the electrical. If you ever get to tour the real "bowels" of a ship, you will find a lot of lifting points in strange places like upside down, or on bulkheads. This is because during erection, the block is moved and rolled over to make the majority of the welding lie in the easiest positions for the welders. The blocks are generally assembled on staging blocks or stands about 5' off the ground, which allows transporters to roll underneath, and lift them with hydraulic jacks, and then move them around the yard. The the block goes to the paint hall, and from there it will get stored either outside or inside (the large indoor docks in Germany and Finland store most blocks indoors) until the "grand block" assembly is being made. Then the crane lifts blocks to fit on other blocks until you reach a grand block that only the main crane over the dock can lift, and it will then place it into the dock to mate up with the rest of the ship. Much of the wiring is done at the grand block stage. This is all done locally, within the shipyard. Some adjustment is possible for piping, ductwork, etc as the blocks go together, since it is more art than science, so a tweak here and there is required.

 

For a cruise ship, the cabins are generally pre-fabricated, and for Meyer Werft in Germany, many are trucked from southern Germany where they are completely assembled (wiring, plumbing, furnishings) (like a modular home in the US), and then stuffed into the accommodation blocks and bolted in.

 

As far as plating and framing steel, you can actually have about a 1/4" gap and still be in tolerance. It just requires more welding. Some welds are done both sides, some use a ceramic backing on one side (don't know if you watched the Carnival Liberty thruster repair, but they put ceramic tape on the outside of the hull, and did most of the welding from the inside) and just weld from one side. The classification society (insurance underwriter) has requirements for certifying welders, and will also inspect the welds. Some welds need to have x-rays of the root pass before the rest of the weld can be done, some need just x-rays of the finished weld, some can just pass on visual or dye penetrant testing. Much of the seam welding is done by machine, but certain places have to be hand welded.

 

No, ships are not rigid structures. Ships often twist with the bow twisted to port and the stern to starboard, or the bow and stern up and the middle down. Large cruise ships will flex a foot or more in heavy weather, if you brave the elements and go out on the upper decks you'll be able to see it. Because the main structural strength member is the hull, which ends at the promenade deck, the superstructure can flex even more than the hull, so there will be expansion joints in the superstructure (you may have seen overlapping deck plates on the upper sun deck around the pool) to allow for this.

 

Glad to answer questions. After 40 years, it's old hat to me, but if you've never done it, I suppose it's pretty amazing.

 

Just saw your PS. Yes, the Vasa is a classic example of poor naval architecture. It was hard in the days before computers to use hand calculations to determine stability, and it took quite a while after the Vasa to understand the relationship between center of gravity and center of buoyancy. Once stability was understood, the classic method, and still used today to check the computers is the "inclining experiment", where a known weight is shifted on the floating vessel, and the resulting list noted and compared to the predicted list from the stability calculations.

Edited June 19, 2016 by chengkp75

[OlsSalt]

Thank you CHENGKP75. Wow! :D:D:D