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Princess Cruises has chosen Robe Lighting for its brand-new Sun Princess

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 04 November 2024 04 November 2024

With a capacity of 5,900, the Sun Princess boasts brand-new entertainment venues and innovative concepts. The ship has recently been equipped with a comprehensive Robe Lighting package, including 4 x FORTE FSs, 4 x RoboSpot systems, 27 x ESPRITES, 76 x PAINTES, 22 x Spiider LED wash beams, 24 x LEDBeam 350s, 43 x LEDBeam 150s, 57 x Spikie+s and 14 x T11 Profiles with gobo modules, plus 21 x ParFect 150s, 42 x Tetra1s, 30 x iPAINTES, 13 x iSpiiders, 17 x iBeam 350s, 5x iTetra2s and 19 x iBar 15s.

The Sun Princess, the most impressive and luxurious "Love Boat" ever created, introduces an innovative ship platform designed exclusively for the world’s most iconic cruise brand. Mesmerizing shows and engaging activities abound across the ship, highlighted by transformational entertainment venues. The Princess Arena, the most technologically advanced Princess Theater design, offers three configurations to maximize sightlines and deliver a truly captivating experience. The Dome, featuring a pool by sunlight and a stage for shows by starlight, is a glass-enclosed space inspired by the hills of Santorini. It showcases acrobatic performances created in partnership with the renowned Cirque Éloize. Princess Live!, an intimate lounge, offers non-stop entertainment throughout the day and night with trivia, game shows, the daily Wake Show, live concerts, and late-night comedy. The Piazza, the ship’s hub, spans three decks and features outward-facing suspended spheres that transport guests to new dimensions with expansive ocean views, complemented by world-class entertainment supported by moving stages, performer flying, and a 3-story LED wall. Additionally, O’Mally’s Irish Pub offers good food, good drinks, and lively music from a resident Irish folk band. Robe Lighting plays a vital role in bringing these spaces to life and more.

Built at Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Italy, the Sun Princess is the largest cruise ship ever constructed in Italy, measuring in at 178,000 gross tons and featuring a total guest and crew capacity of 5,900. As part of Carnival Corporation’s green cruising initiative, the Sun Princess is one of 11 new ships in the corporate fleet powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas) fuel technology, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The ship also features ingenious energy recovery systems for eco-conscious cruising.

The lighting design for the Sun Princess was selected and coordinated by Princess Cruises’ Fleet Supervisor for Lighting/Video & SFX, Matt DeJong, who explained that Robe was the clear solution for this new build project.

In coordinating the lighting systems, including lighting positions and fixture selection, Matt DeJong noted that multiple rounds of reviews were necessary to finalize the system design for the venues. As the Sun Princess is a concept ship, creating the venues from scratch required careful planning with venue architects, LES Integrators, and the shipyard. On a cruise ship, overhead availability is always a concern, and since trim heights are often lower than in traditional venues, selecting fixtures with the right size, zoom range, and features was key.

Robe’s TE (TRANSFERABLE ENGINE) family of fixtures emerged as the perfect solution for the Sun Princess. Additionally, the ship is entirely LED, with both entertainment and public area lighting. This decision aligns with Princess’s commitment to eco-friendly cruising. Robe’s TE series provided various light engine options, allowing for a balanced lighting rig that still delivers powerful performance. “We could select the most recent fixtures, and ones that best served the needs of our productions and designers. Not being locked into the shipyard supply, which is often defined years and years in advance, allowed us to stay relevant and up to date with the latest and greatest lighting technologies that matched exactly what we needed,” said Matt when explaining the process and benefits of the option to “owner-supply” the main moving light package for this new build project.

The lighting rigs on a new ship are expected to last about 8-10 years from delivery. The onboard production staff manage the day-to-day maintenance and operation of the lighting systems. The TE family was an ideal choice for Matt because the easy swapability of the light engine extends the lifespan of the fixture beyond the rated hours of the light engine. The future-proof TE series, along with fantastic support from Robe, made it the ideal choice for Sun Princess. The TE family includes a range of fixtures with varying sizes, light engines, and feature sets, enabling Matt to select fixtures with reliable feature sets based on the available overhead space and venue requirements. The Dome also required IP-rated fixtures as it serves both indoor and outdoor functions since humidity plays a factor with the venue containing a pool and open-air opening. Having the option to use the same type of fixtures, such as the PAINTE, Spiider, and LEDBeam 350 in both IP20 and IP65 with iSeries fixtures was a significant advantage for streamlining onboard storage of spare parts and maintenance items.

Matt and the Princess Production Resource team, led by Denise Saviss and Mark Simons, have had great success with Robe in the past for main lounge refits. A combination of an impressive feature set, light output, size, weight, and strong support presence made the selection of Robe fixtures an easy decision. Tony Perez, Robe’s global maritime sales director, played a key role in supporting Matt and the Princess team by coordinating shootouts prior to the specification phase.

Tony’s support and ability to coordinate special requests, such as custom factory gobo loads, made the entire process very smooth and ensured that Princess received exactly what they needed and wanted. Tony’s assistance was also crucial in ensuring the on-time delivery of lighting fixtures to the shipyard for installation onboard, meeting the deadlines of both the shipyard and the creative teams.

The Robe Lighting fixtures are the primary workhorses for the production shows and entertainment on board this next-generation ship.

The Arena Theatre production shows include Vallora, A Pirates Quest (lighting by Ben Cracknell, programming by Matt Davis), Fiera! (lighting by Mat Stoval & Trevor Burke for Visual Noise, programming by Zach Matusow), Viva La Musica (lighting by Ignacio "Iggy" Rosenburg, programming by Max McDougall), and Stage Struck (lighting by James Whiteside, programming by Michael Fox). The Dome and The Piazza feature Princess Cirque shows with Montreal-based Cirque Éloize: Art Beat, Blue, and Come Fly Away (lighting by Laurent Routhier, programming by Hunter McCune). The Piazza events were designed and programmed by Nathaniel Cromwell and Michael Gionfriddo for EMF Lighting, with additional lighting design and programming by Matt DeJong, Sandee Roque, and Octavio Ahumada.

The numerous creative teams appreciated the Robe fixtures for their impressive output and consistent color mixing between the TE range and the LEDBeam/Spiider range. Lighting designer Laurent Routhier from Cirque Éloize, who utilized the iPAINTE, iBeam 350, iTetra2, and iSpiider in the Dome, remarked,

“Robe is my favorite brand so I knew it would work. The design of the dome being quite special with no top lights and few backlights meant we needed some moving lights we could rely on, and as usual Robe delivered. And the small size vs the brightness of the lamps was perfect for that venue.” The Princess Cirque shows from Cirque Éloize play in The Dome and feature three full shows that run 2-3 times a night during a voyage. Laurent also had the pleasure of using the Robe fixtures in the Piazza for a special Champagne Toast event featuring a trapeze act performance with the circus artists.

Nathaniel Cromwell and Michael Gionfriddo, working with EMF Lighting, were responsible for the design and programming of all shows and events in the Piazza, the ship's heart. This venue, which runs all day and features anything from daytime washes to game shows and full production shows, needed dynamic and reliable fixtures. Michael remarked, “I think that the selection of fixtures from Robe in the Sun Princess Atrium was a perfect fit for the space. The PAINTE as a hard edge with an LED engine provides great color clarity and low maintenance considering the location of the fixtures. The Spiiders and Tetra1s live up to their reputation, providing vibrant looks and endless FX possibilities.” The Piazza also serves as one of the two nightlife spaces, featuring late-night discos in the center of the ship. Nathaniel added, “Robe lights consistently proved themselves to be the right job for the role. The Piazza is an important centerpiece to the Sun Princess. Having fixtures that are vibrant, quiet, and reliable is essential to the space, and Robe excelled in all categories.”

The Arena Theatre presented several challenges due to its multi-configurable nature. Matt explained, “The lighting rig needed to function for proscenium mode, in-the-round mode, and thrust mode, all without re-hanging the rig and without placing fixtures where they were only useful in one mode.” One key challenge was determining the follow spot locations. “From the start, it was clear we needed four or more fixtures to support the venue,” explained Matt. In the end, four FORTE fixtures were carefully placed to be functional in all modes. Four RoboSpot base stations were selected to run the FORTE fixtures from a backstage loft area. The ultimate architectural design of the venue prevented traditional follow spot locations and systems. “The ability to use the Base Stations and fixtures like a matrix selection was the most impressive feature, as it allowed us to be more flexible in our user needs, and the setup was easy enough to change as needed for the different configurations,” said Matt. The FORTE fixture’s large zoom range also contributed to its selection for this venue. The long throws combined with the 5.5-degree minimum zoom meant that a more traditional follow spot system was no longer required.

In the Arena Theatre, four full production shows are installed. Each show will run twice each night during a voyage, featuring fully produced performances with the production cast, scenery, media, and lighting. Lighting designer Ignacio Rosenburg shared his experience: “I absolutely loved designing a show on Princess’ new vessel. It’s certainly a departure from my usual haunts, but walking into a theater as impeccably beautiful and modern as this was breathtaking. We have a long history of using Robe products, and we often turn to them for their light quality, feature sets, and dependability. It really speaks to the attention Princess pays to their entertainment division that this theater was stocked full of the latest and greatest from Robe’s catalog. Having access to both entertainment-style fixtures like Spikie and PAINTE, as well as powerhouse theatrical ones like ESPRITE and FORTE, and the fantastic RoboSpot system, meant I could thread the needle between my more rock-and-roll style lighting and the needs of a theater environment.”

The Arena Theatre features a large LED wall at the back that runs for all shows. The impressive engine output from the TE fixtures like FORTE, ESPRITE, and PAINTE, along with the Osram engine from the Spiider and LEDBeam fixtures, was crucial to allow the lighting to cut through the video content.

The Dome and the Piazza lighting were installed in just two days by Videlio HMS. The lighting rigs in the Arena, Princess Live, and all other venues were installed by Matt DeJong, Karen Hii, and the supernumerary install and setup team, including Sandee Roque, Dusan Milosavljevic, Octavio Ahumada, and Sabiniano (Buboy) Martinez. Across all venues, over 400 individual fixtures were delivered across Europe, stored in a warehouse, and then loaded into the Monfalcone shipyard using various shipping and handling options. Matt and the Princess team were impressed that each unit worked right out of the box. Matt explained, “Normally, with the volume of fixtures for this project, you would expect a few issues or small problems with one of the units. However, there was a 100% out-of-the-box working rate, which proves the quality control and care that goes into production from the factory in the Czech Republic.” The on-time delivery and 100% working rate were instrumental in keeping the installation and creative phases on track during the new build process.

The Sun Princess Robe lighting rig continues to perform exceptionally. The availability of service documents and ongoing support from Robe North America and the global support team, along with the dedicated communication and support from Tony Perez, positions the Sun Princess for long-term success. The entire Princess Entertainment technical team, show creation team, and onboard technicians are delighted with the performance, reliability, and features of the Robe fixtures onboard Sun Princess. The Robe moving light rig is complemented by other conventional units, and additional moving lights were provided by Videlio HMS for select venues.

Wärtsilä and Royal Caribbean Group sign Lifecyle Agreement to accelerate sustainability goals

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 17 September 2024 17 September 2024

Technology group Wärtsilä has signed a five-year Lifecycle Agreement with Royal Caribbean Group covering 37 of the company’s cruise ships. The agreement is designed to optimise the performance, reliability and availability of the ships’ engines to ensure the highest level of operational efficiency to support and accelerate Royal Caribbean’s sustainability goals.

"This agreement is a testament to the mutual efforts and dedication of both the Royal Caribbean Group and Wärtsilä teams. It not only solidifies our exemplary long-term partnership but also elevates our collaboration to new heights. Together, we are committed to achieving the highest operational reliability and meeting the strictest sustainability and decarbonisation standards in the cruise industry," comments Roger Holm, President of Wärtsilä Marine & Executive Vice President at Wärtsilä Corporation.

Installing the right technological solutions onboard is a crucial first step towards achieving the cruise industry’s goal of net-zero operations. However, ensuring these solutions perform optimally throughout their entire lifetime is essential. Wärtsilä’s Lifecycle Agreements provide this assurance and highlight the importance of collaboration in addressing the industry’s goals.

"Collaborations, with longtime partners like Wärtsilä, serve as a cornerstone in our joint efforts to accelerate reliable and sustainable operations and future initiatives. It provides a solid framework for sustained collaboration and will have a meaningful impact on ensuring our fleet’s sustainable operations, which is vitally important for us and our industry," says Palle Laursen, Executive Vice President and Head of Marine for Royal Caribbean Group.

This framework decreases the risk of unplanned maintenance and costly downtime, and improves performance to save fuel and reduce emissions, allowing the ships to perform optimally while remaining regulatory compliant.

The contract covers both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, as well as Wärtsilä’s Expert Insight service, delivered through Wärtsilä’s global Expertise Centres. Wärtsilä Expert Insight leverages AI technology for predictive maintenance helping to improve asset efficiency and reduce both operating costs and emissions.

The agreement with Royal Caribbean Group also includes implementing a performance-based model. This means that gains, resulting from best operation and maintenance practices, will be shared between Royal Caribbean Group and Wärtsilä. This further highlights the two companies' collaborative efforts to achieve optimal operations, with a shared commitment to reliability and performance.

Bahamian government signs $600 million HOA with Grand Bahama Shipyard

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 31 August 2024 31 August 2024

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip Davis was in Grand Bahama on Thursday, August 29, 2024 for the signing of a Heads of Agreement with Grand Bahama Shipyard for a $665 million-dollar-transformation project set to position the shipyard as a premier cruise ship and vessel repair facility, worldwide.

Prime Minister Davis revealed that the capital investment of $665 million is of critical importance to Grand Bahama and pointed out that once fully up and running, the Shipyard is expected to provide a total economic output of $350 million.

“This is an investment that will repair crucial infrastructure, catalyse the island’s economy, and reaffirm this very special island’s prominent role in the maritime industry,” he said during the contract signing ceremony at Grand Lucayan Resort.

“We are re-establishing Grand Bahama as a regional and trans-Atlantic shipping hub, ranked among the top shipping operations in the world.”

As part of the expansion, two new docks will be built capable of servicing Icon and Oasis class cruise ships and within five years, it is anticipated that some 1,200 employees will benefit from gainful employment at the Shipyard, the majority of whom will be full-time Bahamian workers, Prime Minister Davis added.

“My government remains attentive to the issues surrounding seasonal and casual labour, and so we are working carefully to ensure working conditions are just and fair as we welcome this new, auspicious chapter for Grand Bahama,” he noted.

Prime Minister Davis also pointed out that his government realized that its extraordinary ambitions for Grand Bahama required extraordinary partners and he expressed gratitude to the Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation, the team at Grand Bahama Shipyard and the Grand Bahama Port Authority for being world-class partners, seeing the true potential of Grand Bahama and playing a critical role in the island’s economic resurgence.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, the Hon. Chester Cooper pointed out that the Davis Administration has maintained a laser focus on restoring economic vitality to Grand Bahama.

He said that the epic signing comes with enormously impactful spin-offs for the residents of Grand Bahama and assured that it won’t be the last as the government continues its commitment.

Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Ginger Moxey during her remarks noted that the Shipyard is the largest private non-tourism employer in Grand Bahama and has been a cornerstone of the island’s local economy, and that she was excited about the expansion of the company’s four-year apprenticeship program.

Grand Bahama Shipyard CEO Dave Skentelbery noted that the two world-class floating docks — the largest in the world — are on schedule to be completed by 2025 and 2026.

Ripple Operations acquires AdonisHR to deliver global end-to-end maritime HR solution

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 23 August 2024 23 August 2024

Leading maritime software company Ripple Operations has announced the acquisition of AdonisHR, a well-known Norwegian family-owned provider of crew management and payroll software solutions for the maritime industry. "AdonisHR enjoys a strong reputation in the market, with an excellent team and products, as well as an established, loyal customer base," the company said in the statement.

This acquisition is supported by a substantial financial investment from New York-based software holding company Bleecker Street Group and significantly accelerates Ripple’s growth in the global maritime sector, positioning the company as the market-leading provider of Crew Success Software. By joining forces with AdonisHR, Ripple is now to serve more than 380,000 mariners on more than 2,000 vessels in nearly 100 countries around the world.

"This acquisition is a transformative moment for both of our companies. By combining forces we are set to build upon our leading market position and redefine Crew Success Software to optimize crew safety, efficiency, and overall performance from a single, unified platform," said Heather Combs, CEO of Ripple Operations.

"The backing of Bleecker Street Group ensures a stable and enduring partnership that is poised to drive accelerated growth and long-term value creation for our maritime customers in Europe, North America, and across the globe. We are proud to be the go-to platform for all maritime HR needs, from seafarer recruitment to retirement. Modularity is key for flexibility so customers will be able to add modules as per their requirements, without having to purchase additional products from other suppliers, resulting in a more cost-efficient and user-friendly experience," she added.

AdonisHR co-founder Per Ove Kviteberg said: "Joining the Ripple platform marks a monumental leap forward for AdonisHR. Our decision to merge with Ripple Operations reflects a shared vision of excellence and customer-centric innovation. With Ripple's extensive resources and our combined expertise, we are ready to deliver a comprehensive suite of software solutions that empower maritime organizations to optimize crew performance and achieve sustainable growth on a global scale."

Growing portfolio

Ripple was formed through the merger of New Orleans-based MarineCFO and Vancouver-based Marine Learning Systems (MLS) whose e-learning and skills assessment solutions will integrate into the AdonisHR product suite. Specifically tailored for the maritime industry, the modules offer unparalleled ease of use, flexibility, and reliability in managing seafarer training and performance assessment – both onshore and at sea – and boast major ferry operators and cruise lines worldwide as customers.

"These early feature integrations represent a significant upgrade for all of our brands even as we hone our end-to-end Ripple platform. We will likely add additional modules, either developed in-house or through further acquisitions, so the story is ongoing. Meanwhile, customers can rest assured that we will provide the same client focused service and focused commitment to optimizing HR processes under the entire Ripple umbrella," Combs concluded.

In a separate transaction in September last year, AdonisHR acquired and integrated compatriot company Shipadmin, a leading vendor of onboard operations systems, particularly for offshore vessels and rigs, including daily ship-shore reporting, environmental compliance, document management and Personnel-on-Board (POB) solutions.

Telenor Maritime signs partner agreement with Veracity by DNV

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 12 August 2024 12 August 2024

Telenor Maritime has announced a strategic partner agreement with Veracity by DNV, establishing Telenor Maritime as a trusted data partner with automated ingestion into the Veracity ecosystem. This collaboration enables our customers to improve and speed up automatic reporting services on MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) and EU ETS (climate gas emissions), offered in cooperation with Maranics.

Fully automatic reporting solutions

The partnership aims to deliver a joint service to the market, addressing the need for efficient and tamper-proof reporting solutions. Currently, many companies rely on cumbersome and error-prone paper or Excel sheet-based reporting methods.

With a common interest in automating emissions reporting and bringing trust to data, Telenor Maritime and Veracity by DNV set the foundation for a successful partnership.

Mikkel Skou, Director of Veracity by DNV said; “Partnering with Telenor Maritime is a step in our ambition to make it easier for the shipping industry to obtain trusted data that can be used with confidence automating business processes. Together with Telenor Maritime, we share a common view on the importance of automation to reduce cost and risk of manual errors, with the result of better performance and reliability.”

With a growing need for verified real-time emissions data in the maritime industry, DNV has built its service Emissions Connect on the Veracity maritime industry cloud. With the partnership, common customers of Telenor Maritime and DNV can now enjoy a seamless process from noon report creation until they receive a verification voyage statement from DNV’s Emissions Connect service.

Enhanced data quality

This comes in addition to the already established automation in the input to the noon report, that Maranics and Telenor Maritime are delivering to their customers. By pre-populating the report with sensor/flowmeter data, the risk of manual errors that goes into the report is reduced and efficiency is gained.

Mikkel Skou stated, “Today, the industry faces challenges with poor quality in noon reports. The efforts by Telenor Maritime and Maranics to enhance data quality at the source are crucial.”

Telenor Maritime and Maranics are well positioned to provide a modular service, beginning with manual processes and gradually transitioning to a fully automatic reporting solution, with standardized, high-quality data. When data arrives with high quality at Veracity’s data quality engine, our customers can obtain their verification statements from Emissions Connect faster.

Telenor Maritime, well known for maritime connectivity solutions, has expanded into digitalization in the maritime industry with the Unified Hosting Service™ (UHS). The UHS® is a vendor-neutral, open platform and the core of the ship’s digital ecosystem. It collects, contextualizes, and stores operational data from various onboard sources. Applications hosted on the UHS process and reuse this high-quality data to provide insight and enable automated sustainability reporting and several other services on board.

Maranics is the trusted partner for digital checklists on board. These checklists are hosted on the UHS and generates the data needed for emission reports. By digitalizing human process, the data quality is increased.

New regulations

With new regulations effective from January 1, 2024, requiring ships above 5,000 gross tonnes to purchase CO2 quotas covering 40% of their GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, the timing of this partnership is crucial. Precise calculation of emissions will be critical for shipowners.

By 2025, the requirements will increase to 70% of emissions, and by 2026, ship owners must buy quotas covering 100% of emissions. In the offshore sector, reporting starts in 2025, and they will fall under the scope of EU ETS from 2027.

This is stated by the EU, in their policies for energy, climate change and environment:  Reducing emissions in the shipping sector.

Enabling significant improvement in operations for Color Line

Color Line, Norway’s largest cruise and passenger transport shipping company, is already using the digital checklists and automated ingestion to DNV Veracity through the UHS® platform.

"We’ve observed significant improvements in operations with the implementation of digital checklists and automated reporting. We are very pleased with the results." States Henrik Baråt Svensen, Superintendent Maritime Digitalisation in Color Line.

They are now well equipped to face the new regulations. The setup gives them the ability to optimize performance of systems in real time and it makes the compliance reporting more efficient and cost effective, overall advancing their sustainability strategy.

“There is no other way around this than digitalizing when ETS fully hits the industry – It is going to be incredibly demanding and too costly and difficult to handle without a solution like this” says Are Paulsrud, Chief Technology Officer in Color Line.