Ocean Explorer

I could have called this post about this vessel out there on a hazy midday “people movers 15″, because this is a cruise ship, unique in many ways:  size, shape, and place of origin.  I could also have called it “newest hull in the sixth boro 11″ because it is, although there are three other candidates that arrived here for the first time this past weekend.  I could have called it “exotics 28″ since I assumed this was another wind farm-related bathymetric vessel or some other research vessel like OceanXplorer, which came here not quite a year ago. A lot of wind farm vessels vessels in the sixth boro have either ocean or explorer in their name. 

See the notations on the hull?  According to this summary here, it’s a Norwegian design,  ordered by a Florida company, built by a Chinese shipyard,  flagged Bahamian, and operated by a company owned by a Bostonian.    Got all that?

She came into the sixth boro yesterday, traveled up to Hyde Park anchorage, and in the wee hours arrived at the Manhattan passenger terminal from the north.

She’s the second of her class, which will be comprised of seven vessels, one of which will be named for Sylvia Earle.  She departed Haimen CN in late July, stopped in Manilla first to crew up, and then in Malta to get hotel crew and supplies, and then the UK to begin a cruise.  I’ve no idea which all stops she made, since according to this notice, the 2021 cruising season was Covid-cancelled.

She did transit the Cape Cod Canal, where she was examined stem, stern, masthead to waterline by a drone.

That Ulstein bow was seen on a vessel in the Hudson four years ago exactly here, and in Cape Town nine years ago here.

More on Ocean Explorer here.

With dimensions of 343′ x 60′, she carries twice as many passengers as Grande Caribe or Grand Mariner,  the Blount “small ships,”  162 guests with 77 cabins of which 15 are solo cabins.  Her 162 passengers represent less than 4% of the number of passengers on Symphony of the Seas.  Ocean Explorer has been referred to as a polar expedition cruise vessel, like Fram, because of the construction of its hull. 

All photos and any errors, WVD.

As of posting, she’s at the north side of Pier 88.  Did anyone get pics of her in Provincetown?

 

Something Different 50

This follows such “something different” posts as Whatzit 41 and 39, Something Different 48 and Irene Aftermath 1 and 2.  If you’re not familiar with the color coding, blue is for passenger vessels, pink is personal vessels, and aqua is tugboats.  A circle means anchored or moored and an arrow means underway.   These two groups of five then are passenger vessels, image copies last night about 1800.

In fact, from l to r and if one atop the other, top to bottom, they are Veendam, Zuiderdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Volendam.  The other cluster is Anthem of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Celebrity Reflection, Celebrity Edge, and Nieuw Statendam.

Green is for cargo ships and red is tankers.  The moving blue symbols (l to r) are Independence of the Seas,  Harmony of the Seas, and Oasis of the Seas.  The blue circles are (l to r) Symphony of the Seas, Emerald Princess, Crown Princess, Island Princess, and Regal Princess.

To add some drama to the top two images, let’s tally up the potential number of passengers on these vessels.  Since I don’t know what the status of passengers on the vessels in the top two photos is, I’ll just give maximum capacity totals, passengers plus crew.  Want to estimate?  How many crew in the case these vessels have no paying passengers?  Answer follows below., but please guess?

Adding to the strange clusters, how about destination given as “nowhere” or

“adrift”.  There are some metaphors here . . .  like this and this.

 

My totals . . .  for the enumerated vessels in the top two photos . . .  at capacity paying passengers . . .  86,535.  And if all those vessels are crew only, there are still 22,331 onboard, folks not earning tips.  If you’ve been on a cruise, which I have not, you can guess the general range of nationalities of these crew and what they do with their money.

As of this morning, the clusters are shuffling.

 

aka Bud Lite Hotel

Rumor has it that there’s an event in town this weekend . . . and this is temporary housing that’s been made available . . . .  Pete Genovese of the Star-Ledger got an invite to a racy party, but somehow tugster’s invite got lost in the mail?  Bravo, Pete.

Oh well . . .  these fotos of the two 146,000 ton identical ships in the same place at the same time are special enough.  Many thanks to Phil Little for these.  And as of this writing, Breakaway

has already left nearly 24 hours ago.

Getaway leaves after the weekend.  Click here for some views behind the scenes of this nearly-4000 passenger vessel.

Again . .  thanks much Phil for these views.  Maybe next time there’s a big water-borne bash in town we’ll get invites too.