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当邮轮船东需要能够作为技术合作伙伴的供应商来参与早期设计的关键时刻，麦基嘉在邮轮业务上所具备的整合能力就是一种优势，麦基嘉邮轮业务发展经理Mats Olsson指出。
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据最新预测显示，全球大型邮轮手持订单总计120艘，价值650亿欧元，而探险邮轮需求的激增也推升了长度低于200米的邮轮手持订单量超过40艘，可见，这一专业市场的技术合作伙伴前景光明。
麦基嘉于2019年收购了TTS集团的船舶与海工业务，之后积极整合了双方的邮轮业务。随着新造“巨型”邮轮越来越朝着大型化发展，以及新一代探险邮轮的出现，这两家公司一直都在为漫长的建造热潮服务。麦基嘉参与了56艘邮轮，其中23艘在建；而TTS的项目清单中有60艘邮轮， 包括15艘在建新船。
麦基嘉在邮轮领域的产品能力已经扩展到舷门、平台、系泊系统、起重机和绞车等，整合后其产品组合得以进一步扩展，增加了舷梯，并扩展了舷门和平台的产品组合。麦基嘉还借此机会提升了按船厂排期交付标准设备的能力，同时加强了公司全天候全球服务支持能力。
同样重要的是，大型邮轮规模扩大，探险邮轮设计趋于多样化，为了帮助船东实现雄心壮志，对船舶设备的创新提出了更高的要求。麦基嘉正加速转型成为一家整体解决方案提供商，可以按照船东的愿景设计出在现实中可落地的货物和负载处理系统，相信麦基嘉和TTS整合后将成为真正的定位于为客户增加价值的技术合作伙伴，从邮轮设计初期阶段就开始合作。
在巨型邮轮上，以前从未考虑过在海上部署的“惊喜”景观设施必须基于适用于远洋航行结构的设计和工程原理。其中一个引人注目的案例是“Celebrity Edge”号邮轮右舷的“魔毯”，这是一个与船厂合作构思的项目。这个有座位、酒吧和现场音乐空间的平台长110英尺，宽20英尺，可以升高至顶层甲板之上，变身为特色餐厅“Dinner on the Edge”，与第14层甲板的主泳池上下呼应。它也可以下降至第5层甲板，从而扩展第5层甲板的餐厅，或者下降至第2层甲板成为豪华登乘点。我们可以看到该设备供应商的角色可以追溯到该船交付前两年，与船舶设计公司及船厂密切合作，实现设计范围内的最佳效果。
麦基嘉麦在2015年为首艘量子级邮轮开发“北极星（North Star）”观景台时采取了类同的方式。一台起重机和座舱可以将14名游客提升至海平面上方91米高处，将邮轮、大海和停靠港美景尽收眼底。在这个项目中，早期参与确保了使用成熟技术以实现壮观的交付，包括100%的动力装置冗余和柴油机应急动力站、自动切断和安全阀过载保护，以及为乘坐舒适性设计的控制摆动的稳定系统。
如果说麦基嘉在项目早期参与邮轮设计过程还不是一种常态，那肯定是一种趋势，显然适用于探险邮轮，因为它属于“巨型”邮轮市场。
再来看另一个典型案例，麦基嘉与一家大型邮轮公司合作为其系列探险邮轮开发一种折叠式平台，进行了头脑风暴。从乘客的角度来看，这是一个可以真正沉浸于北极奇观中的机会。对于工程师来说，需要的是一个可折叠、带翼的精密平台，该平台可以延伸至船舶以外3米处，成为一个观景阳台，并且后方留有舷梯系统的空间。
对于巨型邮轮和探险邮轮，麦基嘉也在与船东和船舶设计公司越来越紧密地合作，对登船、货物和补给流程进行优化。对于巨型邮轮，模拟软件有助于对人群有时不可预测的行为进行建模，例如，优化物流方案使流通点不会成为拥堵点。在最近的一个案例中，模拟软件的使用建议将乘客安检点的数量翻倍。
随着新一代邮轮驶向新的目的地，对技术合作伙伴的需求将在设计项目早期就同时涉及到硬件和软件。极地船舶必须能够在高度规范的环境中达到安全和可持续性要求，譬如，这会影响对水密门及其材料和机械方案的选择。
最新的参考项目包括系列探险邮轮上为直升机配备的防风雨、加固机库门，以及用于潜水器的舱门。还有为超豪华PC6等级探险邮轮提供的水密门。麦基嘉推出了自己“生态”润滑油系列，但也一直专注于全电动舷门，出于声誉原因，到北极原始水域游览的客人对液压油泄漏持零容忍的态度。
与液压操作的同类产品相比，全电动舷门的安装成本较低，在作业时噪音也较小。事实上，全电动选项在邮轮业的其他领域正在逐渐普及，在这些领域中，环保措施势在必行。其中，阿依达邮轮和歌诗达邮轮公司的LNG动力船堪称典范。值得一提的是，麦基嘉已经开发出一种用于LNG燃料加注站的特殊电动舷门，其设计已获船级社批准。
在乘客通道方面，早期参与设计过程也表明，麦基嘉将越来越多地被视为技术合作伙伴，而不仅仅是设备供应商。其中一个案例是研发内部伸缩式乘客舷梯的开创性工作。这种舷梯可上下移动15度，以适应5至6米的潮汐范围，例如途易邮轮公司Mein-Schiff系列邮轮上看到的那些，以及“跟随码头”的侧载系统，在该系统中可以通过升降凭条以对齐登船。
总而言之，可以公平地说，当船东在考虑一艘新邮轮的所有要求时，麦基嘉可能还不是他们最先想到的。但可以说，船东越来越认识到，他们的技术合作伙伴可以帮助他们在订造新船之前优化各种功能。
当船东这样做的时候，他们也会想知道，无论是交付能在海上安全作业的昂贵设施，还是交付开辟新目的地所需要的新功能，同时又要符合可持续旅游的目标，这些都是掌握在经验丰富的人手中。
Cruise experience to last a lifetime
Consolidation of MacGregor’s cruise ship activities comes at a critical moment when owners need suppliers who can step up to be early-stage design partners, writes Mats Olsson, Cruise Ship Business Development Manager
With latest estimates indicating that 120 large cruise ships worth 65bn are on order, and a surge in demand for expedition cruises has brought contracts for over 40 sub-200m length ships, the outlook is bright for technology partners in this specialised market.
The positives are not lost on MacGregor as it consolidates the cruise activities brought in via last year’s acquisition of the TTS Group marine and offshore businesses. Both companies have been serving a prolonged building boom as ‘mega’ cruise newbuildings have continued to scale-up and a new breed of expedition ships has emerged. MacGregor’s 56-vessel reference list includes 23 ships on order, while TTS’s reference list includes 60 vessels as well as 15 future deliveries.
With capabilities extending to doors, platforms, mooring systems, cranes and winches, consolidation broadens the MacGregor portfolio to include gangways and expands its shell door and platform portfolio. It also creates opportunities to enhance lean delivery of standard equipment to yard schedules, and strengthens the company’s 24/7 global service support capability.
Equally significantly, the rise in scale of the largest ships and the sheer variety of expedition ship designs have demanded equipment innovations to match boldness in owner ambitions.
MacGregor has increasingly become a solutions provider converting owner visions into handling systems reality, and believes the MacGregor/TTS consolidation creates a technical partner truly positioned to add value from the earliest stages of cruise ship design.
Already, on the very largest ships, the ‘wow’ factor provided by attractions never before considered for deployment at sea must be based on design and engineering principles that work on oceangoing structures. High profile examples include the ‘Magic Carpet’ on the starboard side of Celebrity Edge, which was a project conceived in cooperation with the shipyard. With seating, a bar and space for live music, the 110ft by 20ft platform can be raised above the top deck for ‘Dinner on the Edge’, aligned with Deck 14’s main pool, lowered to Deck 5 to extend the ‘Raw on 5’ restaurant or descend to Deck 2 as a luxury embarkation station. The broader point is that the equipment supplier’s role extended back two years before delivery and involved close collaboration with the naval architect and the yard to achieve maximum impact within the design limits.
This approach echoes the one taken by MacGregor in developing ‘North Star’ for the first Quantum Class cruise ship in 2015 - a crane and gondola lifting 14 guests 91m above sea level to give them panoramic views of the ship, sea and ports of call. Here, early project participation ensured the spectacular could be delivered using proven technology, including 100% power unit redundancy and a diesel emergency pack, automatic cut outs and safety valve overload protection, as well as the stabilising system to dampen sway for ride comfort.
If MacGregor’s earlier involvement in the cruise ship design process is not yet the norm, it is certainly the trend, and it is one that is as apparent for expedition vessels as it is at the ‘mega’ ship end of the market.
Exemplary was the brainstorming demanded as part of MacGregor’s work with a major cruise line to develop a foldaway platform for a series of expedition ships. From the guest point of view, the outcome is an opportunity to truly immerse oneself in the Arctic spectacle. For the engineer, what is required is a sophisticated foldable, winged platform which can be extended 3m outside the vessel’s profile to provide a viewing balcony with clearance behind for a gangway system.
For mega ships and expedition ships alike, MacGregor is also working increasingly closely with owners and naval architects to optimise embarkation, cargo and provision flows. In the case of mega-ships, simulation software helps model the sometimes unpredictable behaviour of crowds, for example, to optimise logistics solutions so that flow-through points don’t become congestion points. In a recent case, its use led to a doubling of passenger screening points.
With next generation cruise ships heading for new destinations, the demand for technical partners to be involved early in the design project relates to hardware as well as software. Polar Class ships must be able to achieve safety and sustainability in a highly regulated environment, for example, which has consequences for watertight doors and materials, and for preferences on mechanical solutions.
Recent references include weather tight, reinforced hangar doors on board a series of expedition ships for helicopters and hatch doors for submarines. Watertight doors have also been supplied for an ultra-luxury PC6 Polar Class expedition ship. MacGregor markets its own range of ‘Eco’ lubrication oils, but has also been focusing on all-electric shell doors where, for reputational reasons, guests visiting the pristine waters of the Arctic are likely to have zero tolerance for hydraulic oil spills.
Less expensive to install than their hydraulically operated counterparts, all-electric shell doors are also less noisy in operation. In fact, the all-electric option is gaining ground in other parts of the cruise industry where the environmental imperative takes precedence; exemplary are the LNG-fuelled ships for both AIDA and Costa Crociere. It is also worth noting here that MacGregor has developed a special LNG bunkering door with class-approved design.
In the case of passenger access, too, early-stage involvement in the design process suggests that MacGregor will increasingly be seen as a technology partner rather than simply an equipment supplier. One example has been ground-breaking work to develop internal telescopic passenger gangways which offer 15o of movement up and down to accommodate a 5m-6m tidal range, such as those seen on TUI Cruises Mein Schiff series, as well sideloading systems which ‘follow the quay’, where platforms are raised/lowered to align for deliveries.
In summary, it is fair to say that when considering all the things that they want of a new cruise ship, MacGregor may not be at the forefront of an owner’s thinking. What is also fair to say is that owners increasingly recognise that their technology partners can help them optimise features before they go ahead and order.
When they do so, they will also want to know, whether delivering big ticket attractions that work safely at sea or the new features that open up new destinations while aligning with the aims of sustainable tourism, that they are in experienced hands.
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发表于 2020-4-27 17:08
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