Holland America Line gave €25,000 to Fincantieri’s shipyard workers union fund in appreciation for their hard work building Eurodam. According to Blog Board member Pieter Rijkaart, it has been a long-standing tradition to give this amount to the workers union fund upon delivery of each ship that HAL has built at Fincantieri. Over the years the yard has built 13 of the line’s ships (Prinsendam is the only vessel that was not built at the Italian yard), and Holland America has donated a total of €325,000 to the union fund.

Enrico Buschi (center), general manager of Fincantieri’s merchant ship sector, and Stein Kruse, president and CEO of Holland America Line, sign the papers to officially hand over Eurodam to Holland America Line.

Micky Arison (fourth from left, seated), chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, was presented with a glass bowl by Corrado Antonini, chairman of Fincantieri, during the dedication ceremony luncheon Saturday, June 14.

Antonini presented Captain van Donselaar with a model of Eurodam’s ship bell. Thanks to Pam for taking these photos.

Traditionally when a new ship arrives at a port for the first time a commemorative plaque is presented to the ship’s master. Pam sent us this picture of Ciro Garise, chief pilot of Venice, presenting Captain van Donselaar with the Port of Venice plaque.

He later discussed the best navigational route with Captain van Donselaar and departure procedures for Eurodam’s departure June 20 at 4:00 p.m.

All Eurodam officers, Eurodam newbuild staff, Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding inspectors, Seattle staff currently on board and Zuiderdam officers were invited.

As you can see, Executive Chef Robert Schumann and the galley team were still smiling at the end of the evening, so the first official dinner was a great success.

Puji Cahyadi, hotel storekeeper, was served the first meal in the crew mess.

By the smile on his face, it looks like Cahyadi enjoyed his fare!

It is a routine for each new ship that the crew moves on board 14 days before the official delivery date of the ship. An important criteria for this moving on board is the fact that the crew quarters and facilities have to be ready for them and provide a comfortable but also a safe environment while living on board.

These criteria were all met at the planned date and the crew found their cabins made up with all the necessary facilities and their mess rooms ready for the first meals to be served.

The captain, to keep up with the tradition of always being the first on and the last off, was the first one to move on board. The picture shows him receiving the key to his cabin from Melissa, the human resources officer, at her make-shift desk, which was set up temporarily in the corridor while her official office was receiving the last touch-ups.

For our first video posting, we have a brief clip from Chief Engineer Frank de Vries of shipyard personnel painting Eurodam’s hull. This is from a couple of weeks ago when Eurodam was in dry dock prior to the final phase of sea trials. The hull was cleaned and repainted with a nonpolluting epoxy to help it slip through the water and meet contracted speed requirements.

Henry Veringa sent us this photo with an update after Eurodam returned from its “official” sea trials this past weekend. According to Veringa, Eurodam returned safely to port after a successful sea trail under the command of Captain Michele Ronchi. The ship exceeded both the contractual speed of 21.8 knots and maximum speed of 23.9 knots by .6 knot. All machinery tests carried out were satisfactory and no open issues remained. All safety equipment and maneuvering tests were conducted according to all SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) and classification society requirements.

Veringa also sent us these images taken by Prash Karnik of the fire/rescue boat test carried out during the sea trials. They were taken just after the ship left the yard at Trieste. Fire/rescue boats must be capable of being launched and towed while the ship is making headway at a speed of 5 knots in calm water.

Frank de Vries, our favorite chief engineer, just sent us these images of Eurodam during its first sea trial. The trial was conducted off the coast of Italy the evening of March 29 and during the day March 30. The top image is looking forward, and the bottom image is looking aft with a view of the Tamarind Restaurant. During the trial run, the ship performed a “crash stop,” which is a test to see how long it takes to stop the ship in the event of an emergency, as well as steering tests, causing the ship to turn quickly. According to de Vries, Eurodam performed well in all tests.

Currently the ship is in dry dock in Trieste so the hull can be cleaned and painted, as well as do some other necessary work. This Saturday Eurodam will set out on the remaining part of the sea trials — including the important speed tests — which are considered the “official” sea trials.