Eurodam Floated Out in Marghera Today

Water rushes into Eurodam’s dock, signaling the beginning of the float out

The first water touches the hull of Eurodam

Eurodam passed a major milestone in its construction today — the floating out. This significant turning point is celebrated by Holland America Line with three ceremonial events: the coin under the mast ceremony, the christening and the first water ceremony.

Today marked the first time Eurodam was set afloat and then was moved by tugboats to the wharf where construction will be completed.

While a new ship is officially dedicated and named by its godmother, the star of today’s floating out ceremony is the ship’s madrina, who, like the godmother, breaks a bottle of champagne to commemorate the occasion.

Accompanied by Fincantieri Shipyard Director Paolo Capobianco, Madrina Anneke Dullaert places the coin during the coin ceremony

Serving as Eurodam’s madrina today was Anneke Dullaert, wife of retired chief engineer Willem Peter Dullaert who served as chief engineer for HAL from 1982 until last year. He oversaw construction of the first few ships of the S-class, starting with ms Statendam, and still performs occasional contract work for the line as a chief engineer.

Following the coin ceremony, the floating out takes place, according to Blog Board member Pieter Rijkaart.

“Immediately after the champagne bottle breaks on the name of the ship and she is then officially christened, the dock flood gates are opened and water is let into the dock until the ship eventually floats,” Rijkaart told ENB.

Then comes the first water ceremony.

“The shipyard collects a bucket of water while the dock is flooding, which is significant because it is the first water that touches the bottom of the ship,” said Rijkaart. “This water is transferred to a crystal decanter and then presented to the captain.”

To find out the origins of the first water ceremony, we asked Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, master of ms Veendam, who keeps the ship’s crystal decanter on the bridge.

“The first water ceremony came in vogue when they started building ships in drydocks,” the captain explained. “Before, there was only the christening ceremony with the bottle breaking when the ship went down the slipway.

“With the advent of building cruise ships in a drydock, the first water ceremony popped up,” continued Schoonderbeek. “The practice was taken from the Navy, where building in drydocks has been routine for a longer time.”

More photos to come on Monday!