A first of its kind procedure will be used to repair two azipods on a Carnival cruise ship that has been dealing with propulsion issues.
Carnival Cruise Line announced earlier today that marine solutions company, Boskalis, will be deploying a “floating dry dock” to complete repairs on Carnival Vista.
Carnival Vista has been facing problems with its propulsion over the last couple weeks and will be taken out of service on July 9th.
The Netherlands-based company will be using a semi-submersible vessel, Boka Vanguard, and will then dock the transport vessel at the Grand Bahama shipyard.
Animation BOKA Vanguard dry docking Carnival Vista
With a lifting capacity of 117,000 tons the Boka Vanguard is the world’s largest heavy lift vessel, according to Boskalis.
According to the video the heavy transport vessel will allow its deck to submerge by filling the ballast tanks with water. Carnival Vista will then move into position for loading.
The ship will be lifted out of the water by deballasting the Boka Vanguard. From there the vessel will be used as a unique floating dry dock.
Following the repairs the Boka Vanguard will sail to an offshore location to offload Carnival Vista where the deck will submerge.
This revolutionary technique should prove to be both timely and efficient, allowing the vessel to be back in service with cruises out of Galveston, Texas by July 27th.
Boka Vanguard is expected to arrive in Bahamian waters on July 5th in preparation for Carnival Vista’s arrival on July 12th.
According to Carnival repairs should take no longer than 2 weeks, allowing the ship to continue her 7-day itineraries to the Caribbean with minimal interruption.
Lars Ljoen, executive vice president of marine operations for Carnival Cruise Line made the following statement:
“This groundbreaking procedure made possible by Boskalis is a revolutionary way to ensure Carnival Vista’s repairs are completed in a safe, timely and efficient manner, so the ship can resume her popular seven-day schedule from Galveston later this month.”
