Millenium lost power

[CardRock]

I saw this posted to a Celebrity facebook page this morning:

 

Millennium lost power about 6:45am this morning and was dead in the water for about 15-20 minutes. We are moving again, but power is still out in some areas.
Update: As of about 8:30 am, power is back on. Captain has advised us we are running at reduced speed and will be late into Busan, but will be staying later to compensate. All good!
Update: As of 12:30 pm, some areas still without power - including A/C throughout the ship. The pilot has boarded the ship and we are sailing into Busan with all excursions rebooked for a later start.

 

[Orator]

Always pack a small flashlight. I've been on several ships that lost power for a short time.

[cruiseerf]

Celebrity Cruises "500M Revolution" is surely starting off with a bang!  

[hcat]

Sorry to hear..

 

That is why I keep asking if it is  just a cosmetic re do or one for systems..  engines, AC  plumbing! Esp for M Class..

 

Hope the cruise gets back on track..

 

[ABoatNerd]

hcat, exactly.

 

This is a major point and particularly applies to vessels +15 years.

 

An example is the Oceania Regatta - this ship has a major history of repeated engine failures, power outages and resulting loss of ports and delays. This vessel was built in 1998. In its upcoming drydock, questions being asked about the replacement of key propulsion elements. 

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Sorry to hear..

 

That is why I keep asking if it is  just a cosmetic re do or one for systems..  engines, AC  plumbing! Esp for M Class..

 

Hope the cruise gets back on track..

 

 

And all the M class ships have had numerous problems with the pods since their launch.

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, Orator said:

Always pack a small flashlight. I've been on several ships that lost power for a short time.

Part of my travel items. Not just for emergency but also to check for bedbug.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

No longer pack a flashlight.  There's one on my phone and one on my iPad.

[Ayton lady]

Just off the Millennium last Saturday. The power was off on our last night whilst we were docked in Hong Kong. Back on Saturday morning but the TV was still down until we disembarked. Hope they manage to sort it for the rest of your cruise.

 

[Tourist1292]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

No longer pack a flashlight.  There's one on my phone and one on my iPad.

For short term use or in emergency situation, it is fine. If the blackout last for hours, you really don't want to drain your phone battery. Even with the latest technology, batteries still have limited charging cycle. It is a lot more expensive to change a phone battery than in flashlight. For the same reason, one should never use their unplugged laptop to charge a phone. 

[PTC DAWG]

10 minutes ago, Tourist1292 said:

For short term use or in emergency situation, it is fine. If the blackout last for hours, you really don't want to drain your phone battery. Even with the latest technology, batteries still have limited charging cycle. It is a lot more expensive to change a phone battery than in flashlight. For the same reason, one should never use their unplugged laptop to charge a phone. 

Agree, plus my SMALL LED flashlight blows away any phone or tablet flashlight...they have come a long way...I have a small rechargeable LED light, it’s great, holds charge a long time. Anker makes some great flashlights....among others

Edited March 20, 2019 by PTC DAWG

[Tourist1292]

2 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Agree, plus my SMALL LED flashlight blows away any phone or tablet flashlight...they have come a long way...I have a small rechargeable LED light, it’s great, holds charge a long time. Anker makes some great flashlights....among others

Some of my battery power banks even has a flash light built-in.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We have a rechargeable LED flash light that is about one inch long. Works great when needed.

[hcat]

We always travel with  small piwerful flashlights..you never know wgen it could be needed

 

So is Millenium back on track with full power?

[Magik Bee]

13 hours ago, cruiseerf said:

Celebrity Cruises "500M Revolution" is surely starting off with a bang!  

 

Yes, I know. Technicality not a problem on the new ships like EDGE. And btw, its not X's fault because it can happen anywhere anytime like Oceania Regatta.

[chengkp75]

17 hours ago, hcat said:

Sorry to hear..

 

That is why I keep asking if it is  just a cosmetic re do or one for systems..  engines, AC  plumbing! Esp for M Class..

 

Hope the cruise gets back on track..

 

 

16 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

hcat, exactly.

 

This is a major point and particularly applies to vessels +15 years.

 

An example is the Oceania Regatta - this ship has a major history of repeated engine failures, power outages and resulting loss of ports and delays. This vessel was built in 1998. In its upcoming drydock, questions being asked about the replacement of key propulsion elements. 

Just so you know, overhaul of all systems onboard are regulated by the flag state and class society via the ISM code, to follow the equipment manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule, in order for the annual certificate to be issued allowing the ship to sail.  This means that for things like the diesel engines, they are torn completely apart every 12,000 running hours (about every 2 years), and all wear parts renewed.  This would equate to you having a new engine put into your car every 2 years.  Every single piece of machinery in the engine room must be completely overhauled to new condition at least every 5 years.

 

The major difference between ships less than or more than 15 years old is not with machinery, but with hull structure.  The statutory requirements for inspection of the steel of the hull and structure becomes much more, and typically leads to renewal of steel during drydocks for the older ships.

 

Who is "asking questions" about "replacement of key propulsion elements"?

[dkjretired]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Just so you know, overhaul of all systems onboard are regulated by the flag state and class society via the ISM code, to follow the equipment manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule, in order for the annual certificate to be issued allowing the ship to sail.  This means that for things like the diesel engines, they are torn completely apart every 12,000 running hours (about every 2 years), and all wear parts renewed.  This would equate to you having a new engine put into your car every 2 years.  Every single piece of machinery in the engine room must be completely overhauled to new condition at least every 5 years.

 

The major difference between ships less than or more than 15 years old is not with machinery, but with hull structure.  The statutory requirements for inspection of the steel of the hull and structure becomes much more, and typically leads to renewal of steel during drydocks for the older ships.

 

Who is "asking questions" about "replacement of key propulsion elements"?

 

I have always wondered why they haven’t made a permanent fix on the azipods which have caused them so many problems for years.

[jkgourmet]

39 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

I have always wondered why they haven’t made a permanent fix on the azipods which have caused them so many problems for years.

 

How much you wanna bet it's because it costs more than the problems incurred?  

Edited March 21, 2019 by jkgourmet

[dkjretired]

20 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

How much you wanna bet it's because it costs more than the problems incurred?  

 

Very likely and add to that they won a lawsuit over them

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, dkjretired said:

 

I have always wondered why they haven’t made a permanent fix on the azipods which have caused them so many problems for years.

 

2 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

 

How much you wanna bet it's because it costs more than the problems incurred?  

 

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

 

Very likely and add to that they won a lawsuit over them

There is no "permanent fix" for the problems that plague early azipod models (though technically, the ones on the Celebrity ships are not "azipods" (trademark of ABB), but "Mermaid podded propulsion units").  The problems come with failures of the thrust bearings in the pod.  This bearing takes the full horsepower of the pod and transmits it to the ship's hull to move the ship.  Because pods were designed to be slender to maximize the hydrodynamics, the bearings have size limitations on them.  The problem came with metallurgy in getting bearing material that could withstand the high horsepower loading in the small area available, and lasting a reasonable amount of time (5 year drydock interval).  Unfortunately, there are not very good ways to "test bench" these propulsion units, so they merely extrapolated the data from smaller units (on ferries, icebreakers, etc) to the larger units needed on cruise ships.  This data did not prove to be "expandable", so the early cruise ship units had premature bearing failures.  Learning from these failures, the Rolls Royce engineers could work on improving the bearing material and design, and the pods have not had a significant number of premature failures since.  Every ship with azipods will renew the thrust bearing every drydock now, something that ships with shaft bearings inside the hull won't change for about 20+ years. This is something else learned from the early days of azipods, that they need to be overhauled far more frequently than other types of propulsion systems.  The standard drydock job for azipods is to replace the entire "cartridge", which is the propeller shaft, radial bearing, thrust bearing and oil seal, as a unit, and rebuild that "cartridge" at the manufacturer for the next ship.

[hcat]

Thanks for the info..sime of it over my head but interesting!

do you know how long the  pods were on Millie before failure.?  Wasn't there a review in the last drydock?

[chengkp75]

16 minutes ago, hcat said:

Thanks for the info..sime of it over my head but interesting!

do you know how long the  pods were on Millie before failure.?  Wasn't there a review in the last drydock?

The original failure was within weeks of her inaugural voyage, and then again in 2003, about the time of the lawsuit (based on the original failure).  Her first drydock would have been in 2005, and the pods failed again in 2006, 2007, and 2009 before the next drydock in 2010.  After that drydock, there was again a failure in 2013.  I hadn't remembered the 2013 failure, but since the ship is now more than 15 years old, she will be drydocked every 2.5 years, and they need to overhaul these pods each time.   They probably also need to reduce the maximum speed and adjust itineraries accordingly, to allow lower loading of the bearings.  I wasn't aware that the Mermaid pods were still having problems as frequently as this, but it may just be a unique condition on the Millennium, where the ship's unique harmonics (each ship, even in the same class, will have different harmonics) may cause destructive vibrations on the bearings. 

[dkjretired]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 

 

There is no "permanent fix" for the problems that plague early azipod models (though technically, the ones on the Celebrity ships are not "azipods" (trademark of ABB), but "Mermaid podded propulsion units").  The problems come with failures of the thrust bearings in the pod.  This bearing takes the full horsepower of the pod and transmits it to the ship's hull to move the ship.  Because pods were designed to be slender to maximize the hydrodynamics, the bearings have size limitations on them.  The problem came with metallurgy in getting bearing material that could withstand the high horsepower loading in the small area available, and lasting a reasonable amount of time (5 year drydock interval).  Unfortunately, there are not very good ways to "test bench" these propulsion units, so they merely extrapolated the data from smaller units (on ferries, icebreakers, etc) to the larger units needed on cruise ships.  This data did not prove to be "expandable", so the early cruise ship units had premature bearing failures.  Learning from these failures, the Rolls Royce engineers could work on improving the bearing material and design, and the pods have not had a significant number of premature failures since.  Every ship with azipods will renew the thrust bearing every drydock now, something that ships with shaft bearings inside the hull won't change for about 20+ years. This is something else learned from the early days of azipods, that they need to be overhauled far more frequently than other types of propulsion systems.  The standard drydock job for azipods is to replace the entire "cartridge", which is the propeller shaft, radial bearing, thrust bearing and oil seal, as a unit, and rebuild that "cartridge" at the manufacturer for the next ship.

 

Thank you

[cruiseerf]

Also keep in mind that Cruise Companies are beholden to their Maritime Insurers......It is often the insurers who tell them what needs to be replaced in order to keep those ships sailing fully insured.  They have charts which show them how much more risk they take on as ships get older and they dictate to the lines.....The last M-class drydocks they put in giant new Laundry machines (2 decks high) as the original machines were becoming a fire hazard and their insurer demanded replacement.  Of course they sold it as a renovation.....which in a way it was......but it was as much for Celebrity as it was for the passengers.......

[sippican]

So, anyway, I guess she's back up and running?