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.

More Float Out Images

Here are two more images from Friday’s float out. The image of the bottle breaking was taken by Eurodam Chief Engineer Frank de Vries.

A bottle of champagne smashes against the Eurodam name at the beginning of the floating out ceremony

The two Euro coins, placed by Madrina Anneke Dullaert, on display for everyone to view

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!

The Mystery of the Coin Under the Mast

The coin at the base of the mast on Holland America Line’s ms Maasdam

Some ceremonies began so far back in antiquity that their origins are obscure, yet we still do them today either out of reverence for our forebears or a superstitious fear of breaking the chain. It seems the coin under the mast ceremony is one of those observances that could fall into either category.

Eurodam will have its coin under the mast ceremony tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 28, as part of the larger floating-out occasion when the vessel becomes fully water-borne for the first time, and is moved from the drydock to a nearby wharf for the latter stages of construction.

The coin ceremony is as old as sailing ships, and “stepping the mast” is the singular moment when a ship’s mast first is set into a notch or step in the keel. The practice was started by the ancient Greeks … or the Romans … or maybe the Phoenicians, depending on whom you ask. Apparently, all of those ancient sailors marked the same boatbuilding milestone by placing coins in the step beneath the mast.

The inferred reasons for the practice range from the practical — to have ready money to pay for a new mast — to the metaphysical — to help sailors lost at sea pay their passage across the River Styx to the Underworld. Or it might simply have been in hopes of bringing good luck.

Sometimes unusual items are placed under the mast. In the U.S. Navy, aircraft carrier captains place their naval aviator wings under the mast. Mostly, however, it is coins in every denomination and every currency.

To find out about how the coin under the mast ceremony came to be a Holland America Line tradition, ENB asked Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, master of ms Veendam and something of an authority on the history of the line.

“There are several coin ceremonies,” he told us. “Putting a coin under the first keel plate of the ship is like paying a tax to have the gods accept the new ship in their domain. The Greeks were doing it 2000 years ago.

“The second is putting a coin under the mast,” said Schoonderbeek. “This began with HAL when they started building the S class. I think it is an Italian thing, as I had never heard of it in Anglo Saxon literature. In reality they do not put the coin under the mast but at the base of the mast behind a little clear plastic window where you can see it.”

Mystery solved.

Eurodam Gets Props

Pieter Rijkaart, Holland America Line’s director of newbuilds, just provided this image of Eurodam’s recently installed Azipods.

Although not a new system, they represent the latest design in Azipod propulsion. First used on icebreakers working in the Arctic Sea, Azipods are best described as giant, moveable outboard motors that are attached to the hull and can rotate 360 degrees. The pods replace the old-fashioned drive shaft and propellers with electric motors that conserve fuel while cruising and enable more precise maneuvering of the vessel when in port.