SUVs of the sea "Causing Some Trouble: congestion, pollution"

[GreenPartyVoter]

MIAMI - Cruise lines have been battling for decades to outclass their competitors' ships by making vessels longer, bigger and full of amenities like mall-size promenades and ice skating rinks. What started as small refurbished ferries with little to do onboard have turned into vessels bigger than aircraft carriers.
ADVERTISEMENT

Carnival Corp. & plc, the top cruise operator, launched the world's largest passenger ship last year: The luxury liner Queen Mary 2 stretches nearly four football fields. But the monarch's reign isn't lasting long: rival Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will start sailing an even bigger ship next year, the Freedom of the Seas.

As the industry builds ships that keep getting bigger to meet growing demand, these megaships also create new problems. The lines have to balance the preferences of passengers who want flashy new amenities with those who are looking for quiet vacations. Many ports say these vessels make it tough to process thousands of people in just a few hours. Environmental groups also complain that bigger ships mean more pollution.

Cruise executives say they have worked to relieve those problems. For example, passengers can now check in online to reduce congestion at the port.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050819/ap_on_bi_ge/supersize_cruise_ships

[benburch]

1. I wonder if a Green Ship could be sold to the consumer?

Jacques-Yves Cousteau had a wind-powered vessel that had no sails and which did not have to tack with the wind. It had a tall tubular mast that the passing wind created a draft in and spun a turbine electric generator which powered the boat's electric engines. A similar vessel could easily be built as a semi-luxury cruise ship.

He called this device a "turbosail". It was actually MORE effective when sailing AGAINST the wind.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Now that is fascinating. I had no idea!

[benburch]

5. Here is a picture!

http://www.dblell.com.nyud.net:8090/images/apr-pics/Cousteau%20Alcyone.jpg

Her name is the "Alcyone"

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. That's a funky looking boat. How big would the tube thingies

(am I scientific or what?) have to be on a cruise liner?

[benburch]

8. A naval architect could compute it.

I don't pretend to be one! :-) Not EVEN on television.

They would not have to be huge turbosails... Multiple smaller ones would be more sturdy and give you some failure insurance.

[SoCalDem]

3. Back when I was a travel consultant, Windjammer Cruises were

a favorite.. You actually crewed on the ship, and they went to out of the way places.. Too bad more people aren't going this route..

When I was a kid, "Adventures in Paradise" was my favorite show, and I always hoped that someday I could travel like that..and Gardner McKay was easy on the eyes too :)



never made it :(..Never will :(

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. How come you can't go on one now? (I want to go on a windjammer

whale watch, myself)

[benburch]

10. I believe their vessel was lost with all hands in a hurricane.

About 5 years ago.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. oh *sad* that is terrible.

[benburch]

12. They put the passengers off in Costa Rica, and tried to outrun the storm.

And were never heard from again. If I recall the story correctly.

[benburch]

13. Here is the story.

http://www.schoonerman.com/fantome.shtml

"On October 26th After evacuating her passengers , Fantome left Belize City in an attempt to avoid Hurricane Mitch's fury. When last in contact with its owner, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises of Miami Beach, on Oct. 27 they were experiencing 100-knot (110-115 mile per hour) winds and 40-foot waves the four-masted ship was 10 miles south of Guanaja Island off the Honduran coast. A Coast Guard C-130 airplane began searching the waters east of Honduras Thursday night 10/29/98 as soon as the bad weather cleared. The search resumed Friday morning 10/30/98, with the Honduran navy joining the effort Coast Guard suspended its efforts on after six day of searching"

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. :^( After watching "White Squall" I can only just imagine... Actually

we have several family gravesites that are empty because the men were lost at sea.

[benburch]

16. The Perfect Storm is another movie you should see.

Never underestimate the sea.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. I saw it.. the ocean was the best actor in it. (No offense to

William Fitchner, but he wasn't given a great character to work with.)

[Walt Starr]

Windjammer is still going strong:`

Windjammer barefoot cruises are still big:

http://www.windjammer.com/

Me, I prefer Celebrity. Will be going on a cruise in February. The boats aren't huge but the service is incredible. My suggestion is to tip at least double what the cruiseline suggests:

http://www.celebrity.com/home.do

[Walt Starr]

14. Dupe n/t

[JohnyCanuck]

4. Article about wind power assist for commercial shipping

The new age of sail

* 26 February 2005
* NewScientist.com news service
* Mick Hamer


THE coming of steam sent the world's great sailing fleets into decline. The internal combustion engine finally finished them off. So it would be a strange twist of fate if the age of sail was resurrected by what amounts to a child's toy.

For several weeks last summer, a team of German engineers sailed back and forth across the Baltic Sea playing with a large inflatable kite. The engineers, from the Hamburg company SkySails, were testing the potential of high-tech kites to pull a ship across the ocean by hitching a ride on winds high above the waves.

The idea isn't to propel a ship by wind alone - a conventional diesel engine will help it along on days when the wind is blowing from the wrong direction, is too strong or dies away entirely. But since the kite reduces the need to use engines, the team at SkySails believes it can halve the amount of fuel a ship burns.

This is just one of the ways in which sail power is being revived - and it's not the first. In tests more than 20 years ago, Japanese engineers equipped several ships, including a bulk carrier and a tanker, with masts and sails. The projects were eventually shelved, but this time round there are sound reasons why wind could win through.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/mg18524881.600

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. They are doing it for commercial shipping? Wow!