![]() The next photo shows the engine room of RCI's Oasis-Class vessels. If a penetration to the hull or fire happens, multiple compartments help contain the damage. This compartmentalization is for safety reasons. Rather than long halls stretching the length of hulls, machinery is almost always divided into smaller compartments - one for the main engines, another for the heating/air-conditioning system. An area creating enough power for driving such an enormous vessel through water needs to be really big - very often engine rooms occupy at least three decks. Ship's lowest decks are almost entirely full of machinery. For stability, the ship's heaviest weights are at its lowest possible deck, and usually, engines are mounted above the keel. The basic detail about the cruise ship engine room is its location. Therefore, ships travel slowly and rarely top 30 knots (for more info follow our speed-link above). Airplanes, for example, require tremendous propeller speeds to provide the forward motion, but ship propellers don't need to turn so fast and rely on torque power. Vessels use lower-grade diesel which tends not to burn as purely as diesel-powered road-going vehicles.Īll ships rely on propellers/screws to be pushed through the water, providing forward and reverse motion. Usually, ships fill up at various seaports and use fueling barges as floating gas stations. Cunard QE2, for example, consumes daily 380 tons of fuel when traveling at 29 knots speed and carries fuel enough to sail for 12 days. The output shafts, to produce electrical power, are connected to generators.īoth engine types need a lot of fuel. The same way works diesel-electric engines, yet they use a direct drive system, not a turbine. The power can be used to spin the generators. Hot exhaust is made over a turbine that spins to drive mechanically a shaft. To achieve this, compressed air is fired in a combustion chamber. Gas turbine engines (being aero-derivative) generate heat which is transformed from mechanical energy into electricity. Some of the larger ships depend on two power sources - one for electrical power and one for propulsion. Modern ships use either diesel-electric engines or gas turbines as a source of power for propulsion, and for ship's systems. These transmissions determine the revolutions of propellers. Cruise ship engine power is supplied through the transmission to the propeller shafts. A large number of older ships use diesel reciprocating engines for generating power for propulsion. Without a source of power, these huge cruise vessels would be nothing more than drifting aimlessly hotels. In many ports, shorepower is in addition to LNG bunkering capabilities. World's largest seaports plus numerous smaller ports already have installed shoreside power capabilities providing shore-to-ship power supply to berthed vessels. Most newbuild passenger ships are LNG-powered. Each fuel option is based on vessel type and age, routes/itineraries and powerplant. If not using scrubbers (pollution control devices), owners of older vessels must use as ship fuels either MGO (marine gas oil), ECA Category Fuels (low sulfur MGO), new modified fuels and blends, LNG (liquefied natural gas) or electric/battery power. In 2020, IMO (International Maritime Organization) implements its global 0,5% sulfur cap on marine fuels. These are some of the most interesting cruise ship technology-related data and facts - engines, power, marine propulsion systems, fuel consumption of cruise ships, and something about pollution (in-article navigation links).
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