By
Alex Smith |
Dream Cruises and Maurer Rides have begun testing for the longest roller coaster at sea, which is set to be installed as the centrepiece of the first theme park on a cruise ship, Global Dream’s ‘Dream Park at the Pier’.
To keep assembly and commissioning time to a minimum, the roller coaster is being built for testing in the immediate vicinity of the MV Werften shipyard in Germany. The three ‘spike’ vehicles will then be put into operation and the control system will be tested. The roller coaster will then be dismantled and transported to the shipyard for final assembly.
“Among other things, the test set-up will be used to test the installation methodology especially designed for ship assembly,” said Marco Hartwig, project manager for Maurer Rides. “Furthermore, the conductor rail and gear rack along the roller coaster track, which is necessary for the generation and transmission in the electric motor, can be installed on land in advance. This saves valuable time during the ship assembly. The aim is also to collect all the 93 support base points coordinates after the roller coaster has been completed and then forward them to the shipyard for preparation and positioning for the deck foundations. With the help of this elaborate procedure, we can ensure that the support base points on the deck of the ship are in the correct positions later.”
The ride will begin with an acceleration section followed by two closely spaced 90-degree curves. Two ‘camelbacks’ above passengers heads will reach a maximum speed of 37 miles per hour, followed by a 360-degree downward and upward helix at the end of the 303-metre track.
“Dream Cruises is extremely excited to be working with Maurer Rides to create this spectacular new attraction at sea onboard Global Dream,” said Michael Goh, president of Dream Cruises. “We are thrilled with the progress of the construction of the roller coaster and are excited to unveil this ride to our guests when our ship launches.”