The safety of passengers and crew is of paramount importance while ships are conducting their activities. Therefore, ships must carry appropriate life-saving appliances, including lifeboats, lifebuoys, life-jackets, life rafts and other safety appliances to be used by passengers and crew in case of emergency to protect their lives at sea.

Does the ship have enough life boats?

Yes. There are many regulatory organizations that oversee the ship’s construction and operation. Maritime law indicates the need for a sufficient number of lifeboats for the maximum capacity of passengers including crew.

What is the gross tonnage and maximum passenger capacity?

The current tonnage is estimated to be 79,000.

The maximum number of people on board due to lifesaving equipment restrictions is 1948 (including crew). We anticipate about 1,000 passengers and 450 crew on average.

What are the current specs for the ship length and beam?

The ship length is 766 ft. and beam 114 ft.

The vessel’s design is based on the requirements, guidelines and recommendations of SOLAS, ISPS code and IMO

Security Measures. Like most cruise liners, MV Narrative engages the services of special security teams whose vessels escort us through certain geographical regions. In addition, the vessel registers with the required reporting agency when entering any high risk areas and remains in daily contact with the agency while in the reporting area.

Security Staff. A high level of onboard security is maintained throughout the operation of the vessel and specific staffing varies based on our location. With security monitoring all public areas, MV Narrative’s highly trained onboard security staff ensure that your home at sea is always kept safe and sound. While in port, security is provided at both the port and vessel entry points. The vessel also features:

–Lookouts: In higher risk areas, Storylines utilizes additional lookouts at elevated points with distance viewing equipment including thermal and night vision.

–Full security team: Crew and residents conduct drills with special attention paid to access points, lockdown conditions and bridge team in the unlikely event that emergency protocols need to be applied. Storylines has a designated security officer responsible for upholding all protocols.

Safety Equipment. Although generally not discussed publicly in detail, these include highly trained staff, surface radar, electrified anti-boarding measures, mirrors on bridge wings, bright search lights, razor wire coils, water spray cannons and foam dispensers. The safety equipment aboard MV Narrative is designed to meet or exceed the highest of international standards. In the unlikely event of an emergency, the vessel has a shipwide PA system and its highly trained staff is ready to handle any situation. The vessel also features:

–Safety cameras: A ship wide common surveillance and general broadcast camera system use the ship’s data network. The onboard surveillance system consists of high-definition, color cameras with continuous recording capabilities. Positioning of cameras for security purposes is based on the ship security assessments, including cameras at all vessel access points, entry points to sensitive areas and bridge visibility blind spots. In addition, the system includes cameras at selected exterior view locations capable of transmitting real-time images to the flat screen TVs located inside of the apartments of both residents and crew.

–Locks: All lockable doors have locks organized into master key systems, depending on their status and purpose, to allow control of access to each area of the ship. All access points are limited and controlled with sensors and remote locking where possible.

What regulatory body inspects our ship? Who does the inspections?

Lloyd’s Register, the Bahamian government that we are flagged under, US Public Health and US Coast Guard are all regulatory bodies that will make inspections. The flag reflects the maritime law under which the ship sails.

What are the phases of construction and the key milestones?

The design and engineering phase includes 1) concept design, 2) initial design, 3) basic design, then 4) detail design. We are currently in the ‘basic design’ phase. Drawings have been carried out for engineering, interior design, operation design, and we have produced specifications for the entire ship. During the ‘detail design’ phase next, we’ll produce detailed engineering drawings and production designs, and we’ll start cutting steel.

The next phase is building sub-blocks. Those sub-blocks of steel will be made into larger blocks. Those larger blocks will be outfitted in some way: piping, cabling, cable trails.

Then the next milestone is the keel laying. When they’ve constructed at least 50 tons of steel into a block, they put the blocks on the slipway where they’ll continue outfitting the ship. The blocks continue to be built upon until they form a ship.

The next milestone will be the engine installation of the four main engines.

Then when the ship gets to a certain weight, the next milestone after that is launching, when the ship goes down the slip, into the water and is taken to a berth. At the berth, they carry on outfitting, painting and finishing. Then they start commissioning out the machinery and the systems. 

Following that, the next milestone is sea trials, when the ship is taken to sea for the first time. It will be tested at sea, running through loads of different operational tests to check if everything is working. After any issues have been resolved, then the ship is complete.

Then delivery, when the ship is completed and accepted by the residents. That’s when we’ll have a naming ceremony.

 

What are some of the energy saving measures onboard?

The entire ship design has been undertaken with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind. There are various systems throughout the ship which are taking these into consideration. The air conditioning system is going to be integrated with an artificial intelligence system which will detect whether the unit is occupied or unoccupied, and it will adjust the flow rates accordingly. It will also detect whether the balcony door is open, and shut off the system if the door is opened. The AI system is also integrated with other aspects of the cabins such as the blinds. If we’re sailing with the sun on one side and there’s a number of cabins that are unoccupied, the AI will close the blinds in those cabins to reduce the load of the air conditioner. We’re also recovering and using waste heat from the engine exhaust and cold recovery from cooling the LNG to use in other systems to give heat and cooling. We have solar energy onboard to give us more electricity for systems such as the vertical garden. We have an intelligent lighting system with LEDs. We have energy saving devices off the hull to reduce the friction and we have low friction hull coatings. There are many energy efficient systems on board. Sustainability is one of our key design aspects.

What is the top speed for ocean crossings?

The top speed possible in calm weather conditions will be around 15 knots but we’re generally going to be cruising around 10 knots. Even on an Atlantic crossing, we’ll stick to the lower speeds.

What is the longest consecutive number of days at sea such as a transatlantic or transpacific crossing?

The longest section of ‘at-sea’ days we should expect is a once annual ocean crossing that may be up to two weeks.

Will moving on board proceed in stages?

We will try to sail on the delivery date which means that moving in will likely happen slightly before that. The ship’s residential units will likely be finished before the other public areas. It will be in sea trials at that time and we are hopeful that people can move in, in stages. The stages are going to be announced closer to the sailing date.