Model Boat Mayhem

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Author Topic: Oasis of the Seas - The biggest yet!  (Read 20608 times)

Peter Fitness

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Re: Oasis of the Seas - The biggest yet!
« Reply #50 on: January 06, 2011, 09:12:27 pm »

I was on QE2 at that time. We had to slow down for vicky.

The 2 skippers during our time on board the QE2 frequently told us that the QE2 could go faster backwards, then the QV could at full speed ahead :-) (Captains Ian McNaught and David Perkins)

After we left Osaka, en route for Honolulu, we ran into Force 10 conditions, but QE2 handled them easily, with little or no discomfort to the passengers. QE2 is, however, a true ocean liner.

Peter.
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Bryan Young

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Re: Oasis of the Seas - The biggest yet!
« Reply #51 on: January 06, 2011, 10:01:14 pm »

Ah, well then Colin. If (if) it was an F10 sort of storm then I must agree. But people in general do tend to overstate such conditions. No...I didn't forget the "United States" (or the "Savannah"....forgive my spelling)...but how long did they remain in service? The American Mercantile Marine has, throughout my life as a mariner, never ever been a competitive collection of companies. Ruthlessly controlled and regulated by the central government. This "control" (I believe) was the "prime-mover" in the rise of Flags of Convenience. No matter that George W Bush thinks that the word "entrepeneur" is an American word, the USA has plenty of them. And shipowners (particularly the "private" oil carriers) rapidly departed those shores/regulations. Mainly to Panama and Liberia. That still exists. So US shipowners do still have a global presence, just not under obvious US control. It was true until recently that US Law decreed that all US coastal cargo traffic had to be transported in US registered ships. Free trade?
Your point about US ships being built so strongly that they would last for 50 years is a load of hogwash. Most of them only lasted 50 years because they didn't go anywhere. I defy anyone, anywhere, to tell me of any ships that were built stronger/tougher than the ships built by Alfred Holt. And that was because they insured their own ships. Which brings me back to standardisation. Standardisation stultifies innovation. The US commercial shipbuilding just kept on making the same old, same old with tweaks. BY.
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Notes from a simple seaman

Colin Bishop

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Re: Oasis of the Seas - The biggest yet!
« Reply #52 on: January 06, 2011, 10:12:41 pm »

I have to agree with what you say there Bryan, however ships that don't go anywhere still rot and suffer from reduced plate thickness, although possibly less so if they are laid up in freshwater rivers.

Re longevity I was thinking of the Santa Rosa built in 1958 at Newport News and retired in 2009 as a cruise ship, due I think to not meeting the latest SOLAS standards rather than any structural failure.

Colin
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Bryan Young

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Re: Oasis of the Seas - The biggest yet!
« Reply #53 on: January 07, 2011, 01:40:51 pm »

Colin....I'm glad that I didn't inadvertently upset you! But a couple more points on the subject of the US Merchant Marine. For a country with such a huge coastline it always surprised me how few US registered general cargo ships were seen around the world compared to the huge European fleets. Also, very seldom did a US ship ever display the "pristine" look that prevailed in the better run European cargo-liner outfits. To be honest, even many of their liners looked distinctly "seedy" and a bit run down when they were berthed (Southampton) beside for instance the ships of the Orient Line.
But I still don't know why they've left the huge cruise liner (build) market alone. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if the Japanese have ever entered the market either! Regards. Bryan.
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Notes from a simple seaman
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