Palumbo Shipyard Completes Québec Passenger Ship
Following completion at Palumbo Shipyard in Naples, the new build 97m passenger and cargo vessel Bella Desgagnés is heading toward Québec, where she is to be christened on 15 April, 2013, noted Louis-Marie Beaulieu, Chairman and CEO of owner Groupe Desgagnés. Designed to operate on the St Lawrence River and Gulf of St Lawrence in the Québec zone, the 6,588t Bella Desgagnés is an Ice and DP Class vessel complying with Lloyd’s Register Classification standards and Canadian flag requirements.
Groupe Desgagnés entrusted Palumbo Shipyard to complete the vessel, 60 percent of which was built by a now defunct Croatian shipyard. Some of the biggest shipyards in the Mediterranean bid for the completion tender, before the owners decided on Palumbo Group. At the yard in Naples (see photo below), Palumbo Shipyard completed every system on board, under the supervision of Lloyd’s Register and Transport Canada surveyors, paying attention both to the missing 40 percent as well as perfecting the 60 percent already built. The vessel now fully complies with the highest international technical standards for passenger ships.
Four Wärtsilä diesel-electric generators power two Končar electric motors, providing propulsion to two azimuthing propellers. The azimuthing propellers work together with two bow thrusters, contributing the vessel’s almost unlimited manoeuvrability. Each propulsion system is operated in automatic or semi-automatic mode with DP (AM) or with the Kongsberg cJoy Compact Joystick Control System.
Following harbour tests, with the assistance of all manufacturing companies involved, each system of the vessel was tested during seven days sea trials in a full load conditions.
On board a Liebherr crane of 30t with a 35m beam makes the ship independent in container loading/unloading operations. The vessel is not only outfitted with state-of-the-art technical equipment, but she also delivers a very high standard for the guests. In fact she is equipped with some panoramic, comfortable rooms sheltered from the Arctic climate, as well as gym, restaurant, cafeteria, recreation room, public showers and fully-equipped conference room. Particular attention to passengers is also shown in the variety of accommodation: there are four different classes to choose from, each of them with a different approach to the trip including a VIP lounge area.
The Palumbo Group was proud of hosting this vessel and providing her with the best security, technical and comfort standards. The refit of commercial ships is actually the core business of the group, which was established in Naples in 1967 and now, after three generations, has become the largest private group of shipyards in the Mediterranean.
To date, besides building commercial vessels, the group handles big refits work, full conversions of yachts and also superyacht building. Including the original refit and conversion facility located in the commercial port of Naples, the group now includes a superyacht construction facility in Naples, a commercial shipyard in Messina (Sicily) and two shipyards in Malta. Palumbo Shipyard now manages 10 drydocks, 1 slipway, berths, mooring docks, warehouses, open equipped working area and storage areas. The company is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified, and stated that it “works with the aim of applying the highest standards to its constructions, achieving perfection, keeping in mind that the sea does not forgive errors!”
