Bahamas-based yard will complete repair and refurbishment projects on another six ships this year
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Grand Bahama Shipyard (GBS) has completed repairs and refurbishments onboard 17 cruise ships at its yard in The Bahamas since January 2017, and is set to work on another six before the end of the year.
Generally, the scope of works included significant propulsion and technical systems overhauls, hull treatments, revitalisations of onboard accommodation and public spaces, and the addition of onboard facilities.
Five Carnival Cruise Line vessels – Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Dream, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Glory and Carnival Breeze – had their hulls blasted and painted with silicone coatings, steel replaced in underwater areas and pipes replaced on multiple systems. The ships’ thrusters and stabilizers were also overhauled, while sea chests were fabricated and installed in the hulls to support the scrubber systems. Four ships were fitted with additional diesel generator modules, and GBS, ABB and Carnival worked together to fit cyclo-convertors. On the hotel side, GBS supported the Carnival Hotel Refurbishment Team during interior structural modification works on several vessels. This included the construction and installation of the Water Works attraction.
Norwegian Cruise Line also dry docked five ships in the first half of 2017. GBS worked on Norwegian Sky’s pool structures, replaced her galley equipment, worked with Rolls-Royce to overhaul thrusters, and helped to build and maintain complex scaffolding to support interior renovation projects. Meanwhile, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Jade had their hulls blasted and covered with silicone coatings, and were equipped with new ballast water treatment system pipe lines. The ships’ thrusters, stabilizers and ABB Azipods were also overhauled.
GBS also fitted a scrubber system on Royal Caribbean International’s Grandeur of the Seas, enhanced the aluminium and steel structures on her upper deck, and blasted and coated her hull with a silicone coating. The yard team erected and maintained a complex scaffolding structure to support interior renovations.
Princess Cruises returned with two ships – Caribbean Princess and Pacific Princess – both of which were painted with new livery. The ships also had steel replaced on their hull and upper decks.
Other projects included refits on Oceania Cruises’ Insignia and Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Mariner, a seven-day overhaul of the Rolls-Royce Mermaid Pod on Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Summit, and a class-related dry dock on Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Fantasy. For the latter project, GBS’s team carried out an extensive hull treatment and anode replacement programme, and built a scaffold stage to support major water park and slide refurbishments.