Marella Discovery

History

Marella Discovery was Royal Caribbean International’s Splendour of the Seas by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The ship was assigned the yard number "B31", and was launched on 17 June 1995 by Lisa Wilhelmsen. The ship is registered to the port of Nassau, in the Bahamas. Maiden voyage for Splendour of the Seas commenced on 31 March 1996.

On 31 October 2011, Royal Caribbean and Spanish shipyard Navantia signed a contract for Splendour of the Seas to receive structural modifications, maintenance to the propellers, propeller shafts and rudder, and interior upgrades, including new dining and public areas, 124 new balconies, and improvements to staterooms. The work was expected to take about five weeks to complete.

Until April 2016, Splendour of the Seas was based in Brazil during the southern hemisphere summer, doing a series of itineraries from three to twelve nights throughout South America, and is based out of Venice, Italy during the northern hemisphere summer, sailing seven night cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean.

In March 2015, Royal Caribbean sold Splendour of the Seas to TUI Cruises who was then sub-chartered to Thomson Cruises, with the final sailing for Royal Caribbean departing on 4 April 2016. The ship was renamed TUI Discovery and was based in Palma, Mallorca and Bridgetown, Barbados starting in June 2016 after refurbishment. She was originally going to be renamed Thomson Discovery, but the name was changed to TUI Discovery as part of their rebranding.

On 22 October 2015 whilst sailing on a cruise in the Mediterranean, Splendour of the Seas suffered an engine-room fire, which was extinguished after 2 hours by the crew. There were no injuries reported by Royal Caribbean and the ship continued its journey to the port of Venice.

Splendour of the Seas spent her last season with Royal Caribbean International by sailing from Dubai on 7-8 night cruises, visiting destinations such as Muscat, Oman and Abu Dhabi throughout November 2015 - March 2016.

Design

The gross tonnage of Marella Discovery is 69,130, and she has a displacement of 35396 t. The cruise ship is 264 m in length overall, with a beam of 32 m, a draft of 7.9 m in summer conditions, and an air draft of 50 m. The propulsion system consists of five Wärtsilä Vasa 12V46B engines, which supply 11,700 kW each to the ship's two, 5.8 m diameter, fixed pitch propellers. Maximum speed is 24 kn, with the ship taking 1892 m and 6 minutes, 45 seconds to come to a full stop. Main propulsion is supplemented by two 1500 kW bow thrusters and a 1,728 kW stern thruster. Two 10.8 sqm, 6.1 m, the ship is also equipped with stabilizers.

Facilities and layout

The ship has eleven passenger accessible decks, with passenger accommodation located on decks 2 to 3 and 6 to 8. Up to 2,074 passengers can be carried, in 902 cabins. Most of the outdoor public facilities are on decks 9 and 10. Indoor passenger facilities include a theater, casino, and a main dining room.

The standard crew complement is 720, with accommodation for another 30 if required; most crew accommodation is located near the bottom of the ship, on deck 0 and 1. The bridge is located forward on deck 8. Onboard equipment can generate 1,100,000 L of fresh water every day, 600,000 L of which will be used aboard during the same period.

Gallery

|File:Splendour of the Seas (Split, HR, 2011-07-14).jpg|Marella Discovery as Splendour of the Seas at Split, Croatia on 14 July 2011 |File:Splendour of the Seas (ship, 1995) IMO 9070632; in Split, 2012-04-27.jpg|Marella Discovery as Splendour of the Seas in Split, Croatia on 27 April 2012, after structural modifications |File:Tui-discovery-cruise-ship-photos.jpg|TUI Discovery underway}}

References

References

1. [https://www.faktaomfartyg.se/splendour_of_the_seas_1996.htm MS Splendour of the Seas]{{in lang. sv
2. "Thomson Cruises Changes Name to Marella Cruises {{!}} CruiseBe". CruiseBe.
3. (31 October 2011). "Spain: Royal Caribbean International, Navantia Sign ''Splendour of the Seas'' Revitalization Contract". Shipbuilding Tribune.
4. (3 March 2015). "Royal Caribbean saying goodbye to Splendour of the Seas". Orlando Sentinel.
5. (13 November 2015). "Thomson Announces Plans for New Ship Discovery". cruiseindustrynews.com.
6. (13 April 2016). "Thomson Cruises Reveals the Name of Its First All-Inclusive Cruise Ship, Plus New Summer 2017 Itineraries". Cruise Critic.
7. "Splendour of the Seas Catches On Fire". Cruise Law News.