29 March 2007
Cruise line introduces first hybrid powered ship
Ship can travel twice as far, twice as fast, at half the cost
ATHENS,
Greece -- Just last year Mega Crown International Cruise Lines, LLP jolted the cruising industry with the launch
of the Brobdingnagian, a
17,000 passenger Extreme-Ultra-Mega cruise ship. Now it is again
turning the industry on its head again with the launch of the Ibrido,
a first-of-a-kind, hybrid cruise ship.
 According to
company spokesperson, Svelette Minkenopolis, the
Ibrido (Italian for "hybrid") is a conventional cruise ship in all respects except for its
power plant. It is there that the
Ibrido breaks with tradition to incorporate both diesel and
electrically powered engines.
The conventional diesel engines power the ship at low speeds. Then, when
the
ship has reached its cruising speed (approximately 17 knots), propulsion
is transferred to the electric engines.
"Automotive hybrid engines," noted Minkenopolis, "work the other way
'round: Vehicles are electrically powered at low speeds and
conventionally powered at higher speeds. This is where the propulsion
system for our new ship is truly innovative."
From company memos attained by Travel Fox, it was learned that the hull
of the ship is plated below the water line with a special amalgam of
nickel, zinc and silver. As this material is propelled through the salt
water, it creates a massive magnetic field, or the "Zone of Electrical
Generation." Cathodes placed along the ship's keel "scoop up" the
generated charge and use it to power the four 122,000 Volt electrical
motors.
A unique feature of the ship's propulsion system is that the faster the ship
is propelled through the water, the more energy can be generated, which,
in turn, will propel the ship even faster. In this way the ship's speed is
only limited by what ship designers call its "hull speed." In this case
about 35 knots.
When asked by reporters about the top speed for the ship, Minkenopolis
would not comment, but naval architects familiar with the design have
estimated that it is in excess of 35 knots.
That's fast enough to pull a water skier. In fact because of the mass of
the ship (approximately 55,000 tons) the Ibrido could pull 3700
water skiers!
Sea trials for the Ibrido will begin next month and the ship is
expected to enter service in the Caribbean this fall.
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