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The next generation of superliners

8:39am Sunday 6th July 2008

comment Comments (46) Have your say »

By Keith Hamilton »

SOMEWHERE, not far off Hampshire's coastline, a vast floating city of the future makes its way slowly along the English Channel.

A fleet of high-speed craft ferry thousands of people to and from the gargantuan structure while other visitors land by aircraft on the vessel's upper deck.

More than a mile long, 25-storeys high and with 200 acres of open space, this vision of cruising to come will be home to 40,000 full-time residents with enough facilities to welcome a further 30,000 every day, together with hotel accommodation for 10,000 guests and all cared for by 20,000 crew.

This gigantic superstructure, far too large to ever enter port, will constantly circle the globe and feature schools, together with a first-class hospital in addition to retail and wholesale shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, casinos, offices, warehouses, and light manufacturing and assembly enterprises.

The ideas and look of the Freedom Ship may all sound like the stuff of science fiction fantasy but this is just one of a number of serious design concepts, already drawn up, envisaging how cruise ships might look in the decades ahead.

Other blueprints call for the construction of an enormous mothership capable of launching smaller vessels while a third design shows a sleek, streamlined ship capable of taking thousands of passengers on worldwide voyages with no impact on the environment.

Many will dismiss these designs as products of vivid imaginations but it is worth remembering that, say, just 15 years ago, no one would have taken seriously any suggestions that cruise ships would one day have 900- seater ice-rinks, parks with lawns, trees and shrubs, open-air theatres, nightclubs suspended 200ft above the waves, onboard "streets'' lined with shops, bars, cafes and pubs, rock climbing walls and cocktail lounges that move up and down between decks.

In 2008 all these passenger facilities are now a reality and have been incorporated in the latest vessels to come into service.

The design for the Freedom Ship has been drawn up in America while details of the other two futuristic vessels have been revealed as the industry predicts that two million British people will be taking cruises by 2012.

These British designs come from Fredrik Johansson, senior architect at Tillberg Design AB, who helped create many of the areas on Southampton's Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, and Independence of the Seas Mr Johansson said: "These designs are ships of the future, constructed with natural timeless materials and a crisp contemporary design.

The new generation of vessels will have a distinct identity throughout - from the exterior and interior design through to the onboard activities, food concepts and shore excursions.

"They are aimed at the next generation of youthful, design-savvy and environmentally-conscious passenger who we now see entering the market."

At present a total of 44 new cruise ships, worth more than £12 billion, ranging from mega-ships through to small, intimate, ultra-luxury boutique vessels, are on order, to be delivered over the next four years.

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Your Say YourEcho

southy, redbridge says...
12:22pm Sun 6 Jul 08

and how many will be built in britain

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Daz, Southampton says...
12:33pm Sun 6 Jul 08

None....... we dont have any shipyards big enough

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Builder, soton says...
12:49pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Millbrook Towers with rising damp .

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southy, says...
1:27pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Daz wrote:
None....... we dont have any shipyards big enough

I not surprize maggie thacher had them closed down and built on,just think of all them jobs that could of been there.

Report this post »

wontee, soton says...
1:28pm Sun 6 Jul 08

This sort of reporting is the stuff of 'The Eagle' and Dan Dare of the 60's.
Puerile rubbish.

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hulla, baloo says...
2:03pm Sun 6 Jul 08

southy wrote:

Daz wrote: None....... we dont have any shipyards big enough
I not surprize maggie thacher had them closed down and built on,just think of all them jobs that could of been there.

So Maggie shut down Shipyards capable of handling one this size?
Don't think so, as we have never had any big enough to build something this size.

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
2:04pm Sun 6 Jul 08

southy wrote:

Daz wrote:
None....... we dont have any shipyards big enough
I not surprize maggie thacher had them closed down and built on,just think of all them jobs that could of been there.

That is a stupid comment. Maggie Thatcher did not "have them closed down" They closed down because their customers went elsewhere Just like the coal mines they were no longer competitive. No doubt you shop at your local supermarket because it is cheaper. How would you feel if you were forced into going to a state owned shop where the price was higher, the choice more limited and the quality inferior because that is what British Shipyard customers faced in the seventies and eighties. If you mean Maggie refused to subsidise them and insisted they stand on their own two feet or go under then say so.

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What, soton says...
2:06pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Hulla, baloo - In Southy's rose tinted old labour world, we did, we were the wealthiest nation on earth before Mrs T!!

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southy, redbridge says...
2:52pm Sun 6 Jul 08

andy i would not shop in my local supermarket i dont belive in paying for over price cheap rubbish that you get from tescos,but i will go west of me and shop in that supermarket better foods for the same price.
has for the shipyards yes it was maggie fault she was the one that canceled ship orders to them yards,and has for workmanship why did those foreign shipyards use british shipyard workers to build them ships in there country and they got a better pay deal there than they did here,and because of that those workers did not have to pay uk taxs.that one action cost the uk billions in revenue.and before you say it was not many british workers 9/10 of them workforce is british.

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Skeptik, Soton says...
2:56pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Back in the days of British Steel, we needed S96 high tensile steel for components on Vulcan bombers, the waiting time was weeks, the MoD were not happy ! So the company I worked for got a similar spec from Germany - flown into Heathrow the day after the order was placed, that is why British industry collapsed. Mixture of bad management and ridiculous working practices set by the unions, fat lot of good it did them.

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Jock, Glasgow says...
3:04pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Southy you talk rot, I worked in a shipyard, I have read some of your blogs, and you do stray from reality a bit. I do not know what you read but take it from me the author is mad.

Jock Ex Socialist

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southy, redbridge says...
3:10pm Sun 6 Jul 08

skeptik you must be old,older than me.seeing that the last vulcan bomber was made in 1982 and ended its services in 1984 in the raf.plus all the metals was being made they had been since 1953

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southy, redbridge says...
3:17pm Sun 6 Jul 08

jock so have I,i was working in germany for awhile on a ship,and it was only manerment that was german, the rest was english

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Skeptik, soton says...
3:25pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Started my apprencticeship in 1964, I know you are incredibly dim, read what I said we needed S96, British Steel did not have any in stock of the required diameter and could not supply in time (which was usual for them) so we got it from Germany. I do know a bit about Vulcans, Hunters, Sea Vixens and I could go on, go read another book.

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Help, soton says...
3:40pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Where the hell is Denzil when you need him ?

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southy, redbridge says...
3:43pm Sun 6 Jul 08

so you started work for avro after they started being made and was all ready in service,was it in 1967 when that problem came about just out of intrest

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Artful Dodger, Millbrook says...
3:48pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Help wrote:
Where the hell is Denzil when you need him ?

He is in dry dock, having his bottom scraped.

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skeptik, soton says...
3:50pm Sun 6 Jul 08

No sub contractor to BAC, the problem was was wing bolt replacements, the Vulcan was then flying at lower altitudes and this (thicker air) caused higher stresses on wing loading. The Valiant went out of service as it suffered more from low altitiude flight.

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southy, redbridge says...
4:14pm Sun 6 Jul 08

1957 if my history lesson are right for the valiant,what i was going to say,in 1967 there was a problem with british steel because it was still being formed,and there was another case of a problem with british steel in the mid 70's when a how the steel was moulded or how it was made,new system was being put it in to bring it up to date

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Help, soton says...
4:21pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Denzil having clinkers removed ughh !

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babbabayo, hampshire says...
4:36pm Sun 6 Jul 08

the most annoying is it could not be done because the labour force is short anyway.
They say more then a mile but a mile should really be the limit or next thing you now is a 2 mile ship.
Flying planes all sounds very complex would probably have to be run by a airliner alone.
Painting the ship could be a tricky one like the bow section ect easy when in port but a hard one there.
Must be a idea at least 50 years away can see it before that are we talking po or caribian cruise i cant see it being fred alson or easy cruise.

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southy, redbridge says...
4:37pm Sun 6 Jul 08

humm help, denzil in the corner playing with a box of matches and can of petrol

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Artful Dodger, Millbrook says...
4:39pm Sun 6 Jul 08

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
cccccccccccccccccccc
cc
d d
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

f
g
h

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Get it right, Hythe says...
5:49pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Artful Dodger wrote:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
cccccccccccccccccccc
cc
d d
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

f
g
h

Congratulations, your spelling and punctuation is better than Southy's.

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hmm, says...
6:26pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Get it right wrote:

Artful Dodger wrote: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb cccccccccccccccccccc cc d d eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee f g h
Congratulations, your spelling and punctuation is better than Southy's.

But only just.

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sotonian, southampton says...
8:44pm Sun 6 Jul 08

there wuoldn't be room for this vessel in the English channel. Have you seen just how congested the channel is.it is the busiest waterway in the world

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Boozer, The Pub says...
10:31pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Southy. Wear you in the Ship at redbridge on friday lunchtime talking to two old geezers about ships

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southy, redbridge says...
11:04pm Sun 6 Jul 08

not me i not had a drink in years.last time i was in that pub john potter was the land lord

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
8:15am Mon 7 Jul 08

Southy I'm still interested in all these order for ships that Maggie apparently cancelled. What were they for? The Government don't run ships for commerce and all warships back then were built in British yards, and still are as far as I know. Are you now saying that our navy should have received an endless supply of ships just to keep all the yards open? Those yards were all free to bid for overseas work but failed because they weren't competitive or innovative. So what are these ship orders that Thatcher deliberately cancelled?

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
8:21am Mon 7 Jul 08

Off topic but one genuine example of a Government cancellation that still hurts after all these years (Skeptik will know this) is when the Government cancelled the fabulous world leading TSR2 warplane. What a plane that was! It was damned close to the F15 in performance but 15 years before it. It was the last surrender of Britain's fabulous post war aeropspace industry which was handed to and stolen by our "friends" the Americans. Oh and who cancelled it? Harold Wilson and Tony Benn!

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Skeptik, soton says...
8:24am Mon 7 Jul 08

Andy - A friend who was in nautical engineering told me some things about British shipyards. Line drilling, where the hole had to line up through steel plate and wood, now because of restrictive practices, boilermakers were not permitted to drill wood, that was the preserve of carpenters (shipwrights) he laughed as he told me that holes often did not line up and it was try again ! Restricted them all to the dole !

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Skeptik, soton says...
8:30am Mon 7 Jul 08

Andy - The day after the TSR2 was cancelled, all jigs and fixtures were catalogued and had to be destroyed on government orders, (Wilson)there were men who had been in wartime production, who were close to weeping, they new what it meant to British industry.

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Darren English, Southampton says...
8:33am Mon 7 Jul 08

I think this is an excellent idea (regardless of who builds it), how many things that we use in our modern world were ever actually built here? I feel though that it is just a vision as people are scared of change and new things like this are seen as change. I say build it.

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Andy, Locks Heath says...
12:22pm Mon 7 Jul 08

Cheers Skeptik - both tragic tales in their own way.

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southy, redbridge says...
2:12pm Mon 7 Jul 08

it was a beautyfull looking plane,but it was canceled under the advisement of then test pilot Roland Beamont and Roly Falk to then the conservate goverment final days in office,with the labour party win in that year.they look at what was happening gave it a few more years for the mismangerment and design faults to be sorted out,but if you look at the history of that plane it was dogged from day one.maybe because it was to head of its time,but did not help is plane was lord mountbatten joining in the discussions with the austrailains if the the ozzy kept there intrest in the plane in might off made it to the mass production.but poor mangerment and design faults. it was even look at again in 1981 but even then it was drop.by then the tory goverment.

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southy, redbridge says...
2:24pm Mon 7 Jul 08

maggie thacher canceled 4 distroyers and 2 county class ships,and the new ice breaker for antartic,but let the 2 air craft carriers go ahead.the new ships was to replace old warships.the navy still lost them ships they where giving to the indain and pakastanie goverments and was never replace.apart from the new ice breaker whitch finaly replace endurance last year.

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southy, redbridge says...
2:57pm Mon 7 Jul 08

Skeptik wrote:
Andy - A friend who was in nautical engineering told me some things about British shipyards. Line drilling, where the hole had to line up through steel plate and wood, now because of restrictive practices, boilermakers were not permitted to drill wood, that was the preserve of carpenters (shipwrights) he laughed as he told me that holes often did not line up and it was try again ! Restricted them all to the dole !

skepik i would not belive this story if i was you,because boilermakers deal with boilers,pipes and container vessels large ones that are premade, and they would work with riggers,and if wood needed to be cut or drilled then the riggers would of done this job with the boilermakers helping to make sure it all lined up.has for plate metal this is a job for the platers and they can drill holes in to wood if the plate is on top of the wood,but if the wood is to be place on top of the plate then that was a job for the carpenters and he can drill into the metal plate to make it surcure,then any thing like dails and gadges switches ect that was the job of the mecy fitter,and theres pipe fitters to,only time when holes dont line up is what they call rough fitting to hold some thing place while a conponment was being made

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Skeptik, soton says...
3:22pm Mon 7 Jul 08

So Bea and Falk suggested stopping the programme, Bunkum - not what it says in the pilots notes for this ariframe. Yes there were engine problems, resonation and oleo/undercarriage problems, not many aircraft have gone from prototype to service without problems, hence test pilots. It was a sell out by yet another failed labour government, but of course these failures are always the fault of past tory administrations ! I cannot find in any records an account of tooling for an airframe being destroyed on the orders of a government and done so hastily. Treason is as close as it gets.

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Flyboy, soton says...
4:07pm Mon 7 Jul 08

From the notes of Beamont, "The aircraft is oustanding"

Wing Commander Jimmy Dell also said the aircraft is "superb" !

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southy, redbridge says...
4:55pm Mon 7 Jul 08

it was 3 goverments ended up saying no.the tory goverment at its last days in office,then labour goverment.then again in 1981 under another tory goverment.there was real big problems.personal my self i think it was well to advance for its time.just look at the problems that the eurojet had.

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Skeptik, soton says...
5:12pm Mon 7 Jul 08

1981` Yes there was a review, but technology had moved on and the fact that the treacherous labour government had ordered the destruction of all tooling,jigs. fixtures and technical paperwork, it was deemed impractical. I am always amused at how you change your argument. Why they ordered the destruction is unanswered, the feeling was that the USA put pressure on that lying toad Wilson. The F111 was going to be RAF equipment until that too was cancelled. We were also working on a supersonic version of the P1127 later the Harrier. That too was stopped.

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southy, redbridge says...
5:32pm Mon 7 Jul 08

oh dont forget the very bad virbration that the tsr2 had
the p1127 also known has the jump jet.was in the air in 1964 and in use by the Tri-partite Evaluation Squadron in 1966, while the p1154 same plane but for a diffrent use was canceled and the p1127 was modified to take on the same role has the p1154

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skeptik, soton says...
6:59pm Mon 7 Jul 08

Bad vibration - if you read above you will note I mentioned that, it is know a resonance ! I do you enjoy you telling me all this, I just dont remember you being there at the time ,still there were a lot of us.

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southy, redbridge says...
12:27am Tue 8 Jul 08

that would of been the insurance company that ordered the destruction.after the company made a insurance claim.and a goverment inspector would of been there while that was happening being arm forces orders.same thing happens in refinerys ect you should see the stuff that got bury at esso and not all off it was used there alot of brand new stuff all for the sake of claiming insurance.

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Skeptik, soton says...
5:29am Tue 8 Jul 08

A, the armed forces do not insure equipment.
B. I will say again - it was on the orders of government.
C. Please tell me you have never served on a jury, the thought of it frightens me !

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southy, redbridge says...
2:22pm Tue 8 Jul 08

they do insure,its done though the goverment.red star was one goverment insurance group.whitch i belive is owned by the rothchilds,yup i have to many times on a jury service.

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