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Facilities at former Navy yard ideal for ship refurb
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Charleston, renowned as a choice port of call and embarkation port for cruise ship passengers, is fast becoming the cruise industry’s preferred port for major ship refurbishing projects as well.
At least this is true for recent projects Charleston-based Detyens Shipyard Inc. has contracted to complete for Carnival Cruise Lines. In late September, the 855-foot Carnival Inspiration was at Detyens’ facilities for a 16-day revamp that included replacing all bedding and furniture in the cabins, renovating all the public areas and upgrading all equipment on board.
“We’ve been going after the cruise ship market for a while,” said Lloyd Stewart, president of Detyens. “We’ve done dry-dock projects with other cruise ships and with other commercial vessels, but in this case, the ship was too large to dry-dock, so we worked on it in wet dock, with it still in the water.”
After the work was completed in Charleston, the ship sailed to Freeport, Bahamas, to finish the work at the dry-dock facility.
“In this business, it’s unheard of to split the wet-dock and dry-dock portions of the project for a cruise ship, but because of the facilities and services we have, it was advantageous for Carnival to come here,” said Stewart.
Brian Swensen, vice president of technical operations for Carnival, agreed with Stewart’s assessment.
“The Carnival Inspiration is based in Tampa, and we have a financial investment in the dry-dock facilities in Freeport (where the company’s ships are registered), so Charleston is really out of the way of our usual trade route,” Swensen said. “You can bet there were several good reasons why we came to Charleston.”
First and most important, he said, was managing the 297 containers filled with all the materials needed for the project, the most ever used on any of Carnival’s ship refits.
“We had containers coming in from all over the world,” he said. “Here in Charleston there are five container ports within a few miles of us plus the interstate is right there, so getting the containers in was never a problem. And the yard handled them as quick as we’ve ever seen.”
Swensen was also impressed with Detyens’ 10 56-foot gantry cranes and three 100-foot floating cranes.
“This pier can work cranes on both the port side and the water side, and with its network of tracks, there’s a continuous operation of cranes,” he said. “Plus there are warehouses right next to the ship, and this is the only yard we know of that has a machine shop and an electrical shop within walking distance.
“As far as we’re concerned, Charleston has a logistical advantage over every other port we’ve worked with.”
The “attitude of the yard,” Swensen said, was also the best he has worked with.
“There is no negativity in working with them,” he said. “Everything we asked for, they did.
We wanted warehouses and they put them up. They contained the oil sludge in an environmentally safe manner and handled the sewage. They made sure we had air conditioning, potable water, hot water and laundry service. These are all basic things that make a difference to the crew and contractors doing the work.”
The refurbishment is part of Carnival’s $250 million “Evolutions of Fun” enhancement initiative, which will transform the line’s eight Fantasy-class vessels. The Carnival Inspiration is the first ship to be refitted on this scale, and it will be followed by the Carnival Imagination, due in Charleston Oct. 15.
The enhancements include remodeled staterooms and suites, renovated atrium lobby bars, updated sound and lighting in the lounges and clubs, new coffee bars, a nine-hole miniature golf area, a New York-style deli, a new children’s area and a complete overhaul of the 12,000-square-foot spa area with new private treatment rooms and new exercise equipment.
Other features include the WaterWorks aqua park with its 300-foot corkscrew water slide, double-lane racing slides and various water-spray components as well as a redesigned pool area.
“We’ve changed out everything—every piece of furniture, every bed, every pillow, everything in the bathrooms—in 1,054 cabins and suites,” Swensen said. “Plus we have new radar equipment on the bridge and a new water-processing unit down below.”
The ship has “gone green,” Swensen said, with recessed lighting and LED lights replacing old neon lights for energy efficiency. In addition, handrails have been added to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Basically this is a ‘flip this ship’ project,” said Gary Santos, port manager with Inchcape Shipping Services, the agent for all cruise ships that come to Charleston, whether as a port of call or for repair.
Santos manages all aspects of a ship call, from coordinating the tugboats, harbor pilots and line handlers to making sure the crew members have transportation into town.
“We had a shuttle service running continuously from six o’clock in the evening to one o’clock in the morning, that took them to the Tanger Outlets, Wal-Mart, downtown, wherever they wanted to go,” he said.
Santos pointed out that more than 2,000 crew and contractors worked on the project.
Swensen would not disclose the exact cost of the work done on the Carnival Inspiration, but said it was “in the millions.”
“Just taking a cruise ship out of service for a few weeks costs a lot of money,” he said. “But all the work we’ve done here is for the passengers, and it’s important to get the ship back into service as fast as we can for them.”
Which was part of the challenge for Stewart.
“The cruise industry is a tough customer,” he said. “They only come out of service for short periods of time, usually in the spring and fall when they’re changing the ships’ locations. It’s a tough couple of days to do a complete package. This is where you actually live the old saying
that ‘time is money.’”
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