Closing the cruise gap on system redundancy

摘要

February's high-profile towing of Carnival Triumph across the Gulf of Mexico has refocused attention on the issue of propulsion redundancy for large cruise vessels. The concern is that the propulsion failure of the 1999-built vessel is far from an isolated incident. The 2008-built Carnival Splendor lost power after an engine room fire in November 2010 off Mexico and required a lengthy and highly publicised tow to California. The 1971 -built Ocean Star Pacific (ex-Nordic Prince) lost propulsion off Mexico after an engine room fire in April 2011, requiring the evacuation of passengers and a tow. The 1969-built Costa Allegra was incapacitated by an engine roomfirein February 2012 in the Indian Ocean and had to be towed to Seychelles.