Rijkaart: Ship Is Preparing for Sea Trials

Pieter Rijkaart
ENB had an opportunity to chat with Blog Board member Pieter Rijkaart, director of newbuilds for Holland America Line, yesterday. He returned from the shipyard last week, and says things are progressing, though he admitted that as the ship enters the last few months of construction, it’s normal for everyone to start to “feel a bit of stress.”

We asked him to talk about the sea trials that are coming up March 28-30 and April 5-9. He told us that following the first, short trials, the ship is relocated to the yard at Trieste, where it is drydocked for six days while the underwater part of the hull is cleaned and painted.

“During sea trials we test all of the technical functions of the ship, the propulsion, the hotel equipment and water distillers, we test all the equipment on board,” said Rijkaart. “For the main diesel engines we conduct what we call an endurance test. We run them at full power for eight hours. If, for some reason, we have to interrupt the test, we make the shipyard start over again.”

He explained that during sea trials, the shipyard still owns the ship and it is a yard captain and executive officers who are in charge. The hundred or so Holland America and Carnival Corporation employees on board can only observe. However, there are about 700 yard employees and subcontractors working throughout the trials to continue with the interior outfitting.

One of the most important parts of the sea trials are the speed trials.

“The contract specifies that the ship is to be capable of a certain service and maximum speed,” said Rijkaart. “We also conduct stopping tests, where we go from full ahead to a dead stop in the water. We simulate problems, such as maneuvering with one propeller — or in this case one Azipod — out of service.”

He said they test steering with one Azipod unit and a number of other scenarios designed to test for stability, maneuverability and safety. They lower lifeboats and perform anchoring tests.

All of these tests are conducted under the watchful eyes of the class society that certifies the ship, in this case, Lloyd’s of London. All the normal functions of the ship are tested and certified as well as emergency and unusual situations any ship at sea could encounter.

But perhaps the most important hours are reserved for the Holland America officers — who will actually be responsible for running the ship when it enters service — to take control and “handle the ship by themselves to start to get used to it,” said Rijkaart.