Dear Colleagues:

I want to share some very exciting news. Carnival Corporation & plc today announced that it has exercised its option for a second Signature Class vessel for our company. Scheduled for delivery in fall 2010 as the sister to the Eurodam, the new 86,000 ton ship will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri at its Marghera shipyard at an estimated all-in cost of 425 million Euros. This further demonstrates the commitment to the Holland America Line brand and will continue to provide further opportunities for our employees and our guests. The currently unnamed ship will carry 2,100 guests. We have also slightly increased the capacity of the ms Eurodam to 2,100 guests. Together with the Eurodam, these two ships represent a 23 percent increase in our capacity from today. (meer)

And you think your job is complicated?

In September 2006, the Oosterdam experienced a failure of one of the propulsion motors. Called an Azipod, this large 17 MW electric motor with propeller installed beneath the stern section of the vessel provides propulsion, steering and thrust to maneuver and steer the vessel when underway and during docking.
An analysis of the damage showed that the fix was to be far from simple. And the decision was made to replace it with a spare 14.5 MW unit in storage in Finland.