Monday February 27, 2023
The day’s big excitement was that we had been chosen amongst the many that had requested, to be 2 of 18 people to do the “Behind The Scenes Tour” of Queen Mary 2. It is the first time they have done this since before COVID, so we were in a very special group. However, before we went on that expedition, we attended two lectures. The first was Suzanne Medway, a naturalist from Australia. She has been the president of the principal wildlife organization and lecturer and spoke about the various species of plants and animals we are to see in Australia and in particular at the “Top End” as the area around Darwin is called. She particularly recommended visiting the enormous Kakadu National Park. There is apparently another national park, near Bali, that is filled with Komono Dragons, which is a must see. However, just before she started her talk, the captain announced that since we had to skip Bali, he was able to arrange for us to spend two days in Darwin, so we will overnight there. So it was very timely and Suzanne gave a mini port lecture about all the things to see in the Darwin area, as it seems that is where she lives so knows it well. Also it appears that most of the Northwest Territory (it’s a Territory not a province / state) is owned by the local aboriginal group. There are many aboriginal tribes in Australia each with their own flag and it appears that they are well treated. So we look forward to the big surprise of spending 2 days in Darwin.
The second lecture was the diplomat, Mark Fitzpatrick who spoke of why Indonesia is the sleeping giant, with a very large population who are mostly Muslim and Suharto the longtime leader’s influence on shaping the country today. Unfortunately based on a lot of corruption.
After an early lunch we met with the other guests doing the “Behind The Scenes” tour and were greeted by the Entertainment Director and Head of Food & Beverage & Hospitality. We had to sign waivers indicating no pictures, the fact that it is strenuous, many steps in narrow passages etc. One couple were obviously not that fit and he had a walking stick. Even though he tried hard to keep up, at one point he nearly collapsed and the medical people came and attended to him.
Our first stop on the tour was the Mooring area. This is at the very front of the ship and is where they keep the 3 inch thick ropes that keep the ship tied up at the docks. Jonathan, the Deputy Captain, who we got to know on the last world cruise we took on the Queen Victoria to South America, was charged with the explanations. The process is that initially a smaller line is thrown out to those on shore, attached to the heavy thicker rope which the shore people pull on until they get the big rope. There is a similar area at the back of the ship and the first lines to be sent out are the ones that go from front to back and from back to front, in case there is a need to move the ship a few inches back or forward when docking. Next the other lines are sent out until it is well secured. Once secured a large metal hexagon is placed over and tied to the bottom of the rope that is by the shore.. These are used to prevent rats from crawling up the rope and into the ship. We then walked up some more stairs (altogether about 200 stairs up and down) to the Anchor room. Here we saw the two anchors and the heavy chain that keeps the ship, weighed down when the chain and anchor are on the sea bed. From there we walked past may crew and officer cabins and made our way down thru Burma Avenue (on other ships called the M1) which is the passage that goes the full length of the ship for the staff to use and off which are all the staff services. We had a full tour of the Medical center by the Chief Medical Officer, then a talk about training by the head of training, who took us down the passage where the crew have their dining area, their relaxing area and the officers dining area. Eventually getting to the center where all the motors and engineering work is done.
The chief engineer who is responsible for all the engines, propulsion, maintenance, plumbing, carpentry etc on the ship, gave us a good explanation about how the four heavy oil Wartsila W46 V16-46C Generators each producing 16.8 mega watts and 2 light oil Gas General Electric LM2500+ turbines each with an output of 25 MW. These engines generate all the electricity needed on the ship and their output is fed onto a central grid. They use about 3 tons of oil an hour each (1 ton is 1 cubic meter of water). Depending on where they are in the world, the heavy oil can go from US$250 a ton in St. Petersburg Russia to US550 a ton in Australia. For the light oil the cost is more like US$1,000 a ton. So for a typical 7 day crossing of the Atlantic from Southampton to New York the cost is about US$2.17 Million. The total power produced is 117.2 MW or 157,168 horsepower. The fuel tanks have a capacity of 1,412,977 gallons for the heavy oil and 966,553 gallons for the light fuel. So in total nearly 2.4 million gallons OR 10.8 Million liters of fuel is what it takes to fill the tanks!! All the other machines that use the electricity also take it from this central grid. Depending on what is necessary, only some of the energy producing engines are used at any one time. There is a curve of oil consumption vs speed and the most economical speed to travel is between 10 and 16 Knots. Maximum speed is 30 Knots. The main user of the energy is the 4 Rolls Royce Mermaid Pods (propeller equivalents), 2 fixed and 2 azimuth pods that can rotate 360 degrees that pull the ship through the water. Each pod weighs 260 tons and is about the size of a London Double Decker bus. Several men go down into the pods periodically to make sure all is functioning properly and to keep the space clean. Each 6 foot propeller, weighing 4,500 Kg (9,900 lbs) is affixed to the shaft and each pod has 4 propellers. The other major propulsion element is 3 Rolls Royce 3.2MW transversal bow thrusters with a variable pitch set of blades encased in a 3.3 meter diameter tube that runs the width of the ship with a hatch that can be opened when needed or closed when sailing. This together with the 2 azimuth pods in the rear, permit full lateral movement of the ship. So it can come alongside a quay and slowly move at right angles (to the length of the ship) until it is properly berthed. They can also be used to rotate the ship 360 degrees in place with no forward or lateral movement to get out of tight places. The ship also has 4 (2 each side) Rolls Royce retractable fin stabilizers that work off a gyroscope and when deployed, either one or both pairs, at sea, they stabilize the port / starboard movement. Each has a surface area of 15.63 square meters. In addition there are 2 Saake Oil fired Steam engines that produce the steam for the laundry, to heat the fuel so it is less viscous and numerous other features.
Other major users are the HVAC units and the desalination units that make fresh water from seawater. About 1,000 tones of water is used per day or about 250 liters per person. These Alfa-Laval Multi Effect Plate Evaporators desalinate through heating the water to produce steam then condensation each produce about 630 tons a day. Other desalinators use Osmosis, produce about 600 tons a day. However to be safe, clean water is added at ports that can provide the clean water and is used as ballast to compensate for the fuel being used.
Our next stop was with the Safety Officer who is responsible for all safety, whether it is controlling people, fires or training. He gave us a demonstration of all the fire suppression equipment and had one of his men dress up in full fire protection gear. Next we moved to the “Trash” department. The head of that area explained the various machines and processes by which plastic and glass are chopped up and put in sacks on palates to be taken off the ship and recycled. How the paper waste is shredded and incinerated. How the waste water – grey and black is treated, using enzymes to then be let out into the sea once becoming liquid. How excess food is also chopped up and enzymes / bacteria digest the food to create a liquid that is then released to the ocean. Many rules, regulations and specifications are adhered to and audited at each port. Particularly Australia where even palates that do not have a special seal are not permitted to be offloaded, let alone any other waste. Further along Burma Road, is the luggage area, where thousands of bags are loaded, offloaded particularly at major ports like Southampton and New York and how this is handled as well as getting the provisions on and off through the same openings in the deck. The final stops were the food storage, preparation and kitchen areas. We entered one of the many freezers where many hundreds of tons of meat are stored. This is next to the butchery where the meats are prepared. There are other similar areas where vegetables are peeled, like 2 potatoes per person per day, for example. Other prep areas include fruits, bakery etc. Each area has it’s storage and prep area. Since food has to be prepared 24 hours a day / 7 days a week and 365 days a year, to feed the various shifts of the 1200 staff on the ship, these areas are in constant use. Of the 1200 staff, approximately 800 are from the Philippines followed by 83 British and 40 other nations. There are about 350 in the food & beverage area. The Britannia Galley is the largest, but the Grills have a Galley, the Verandah restaurant and Royal Court Cafeteria also have galleys. The preparation is mainly done in the food prep areas and then distributed for cooking and final prep. Each area Chef prepares a “Sample Plate” of what the finished product has to look like. The cold items can be prepared in advance and placed on racks consisting of 3 prongs each holding the plate. Some 100 plates can be held on each rack. These are then stored in the refrigerator until the waiters come and collect them to take to the tables. Hot food is prepared, basically on demand where through a real time tally, orders are placed from the table, waiters come and pick up the prepared food and the chef always knows which items require more to cook. Some interesting facts – daily consumption is:- 120 pizzas, 700 scones, 16,000 meals, 87,000 pieces of china used and washed, 8,000 napkins used and washed and 6,000 cups of tea are consumed, to name a few. For a typical 7 day UK/NY crossing, consumption is as follows:- 4 tons of flour, 2 tons of rice, 32,400 eggs, 20,000 liters of milk, 2 tons of sugar, 2 tons of dairy products, 13 tons of seafood, 2 tons of poultry, 8 tons of meat and 50 tons of fresh vegetables and fruits. Now for a typical 120 day world voyage ….. ! The way they do it is to prepare the food estimates, acquire the non perishable foods and put them into freezer containers and ship them around the world to await arrival of the ship. Some 15 containers full of products are used for each world cruise. Local fruits and vegetables are acquired locally, when available, but the volume is not easily handled in some smaller farming communities. All in all a logistical nightmare!!
We then exited the Galley thanking the Indonesian Head Chef – Sukresno Suryo for all the explanations. We were then able to sit and have a drink, champagne and pastries, sandwiches, tea.
The tour continued to the Theatre where we met the theatre head and the head dancer and were taken backstage where the dance captain showed us the dressing room and explained how they do the quick costume changes. It was fun to see the backstage area, but it was all over far too quickly. The final stop on the tour was the Bridge, where the captain greeted us and took is over the wings, the navigation, and all the controls and for about 20 minutes explained what they all do and how the ship functions etc. Pictures by the professional photographer, pins and diplomas were handed out with pictures with the captain and we bid farewell to all. We started the tour at 1:15 and finished at 5:30 PM – a really fun day.
We did go back into the theatre to watch the evening performance of the great opera singer from Auckland, New Zealand – Benjamin Makisi.
Roger & Anne Travels 