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| The cruise liner Celebrity Galaxy has recently undergone a complete facelift and refit, and been fitted with 400 balconies on three decks. The extension covers an area of about 1,000 sq.m. |
Now she is changing name, concentrating on Nordic waters and has recently undergone a complete face lift where aluminium extrusions from Hydro were an important ingredient.
Extensive refit
Celebrity Galaxy is a massive vessel of over 75,000 tons, 259 metres long and can accommodate in excess of 2,600 passengers. She was built in Germany in 1996 and made her maiden voyage from Port Everglades to the Caribbean. Trips around the Caribbean have alternated with week-long cruises to Alaska from Vancouver in Canada.
In March 2009 she was sold by Royal Caribbean Cruises to the German shipping line TUI AG primarily for cruises around the Baltic for the German market. In conjunction with the change of ownership she was renamed Mein Schiff and underwent a major refit and extension at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany at a cost of nearly EUR 50 million.
400 balconies
Apart from generally being smartened up, there was extensive extension work where balconies were built on to three of the decks. With over 400 new balconies the passenger area has increased by all of 1,000 sq. m. and the standard of the existing cabins and suites has been improved significantly.
Adding the balconies involved a special technique and a building method developed by a Finnish company, LSK-Project OY. This firm of technical consultants specialises in designing customised constructions and has great experience of techniques used for things like trains and marine applications.
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| The main extrusion is a hollow extrusion that is all of 420 mm wide and is made in Hydro’s largest press. |
420 mm wide extrusions
Basically the method involves cutting up the hull of the ship of outside cabins and replacing the wall with an aluminium section that can be opened. A steel console is then fitted externally on to which is placed an aluminium balcony platform and an aluminium and glass railing. These extensions have been made on three decks. LSK’s platform construction consists of four large floor extrusions and one external cover extrusion. The main extrusion used in the platform is a hollow extrusion for maximum strength and low weight. This is all of 420 mm wide and is made using a press with a massive 7,000 ton compacting force at Hydro Aluminium Profiler. The great extrusion width gives a larger area with fewer extrusions, greater strength and shorter assembly times. The outer extrusion of the platform is designed to be easily fitted to the railing and is equipped with an external drainage channel for rain and wash water and also serves as a cover extrusion for the platform’s consoles.
“Hydro has been an active partner during the development of our balcony system,” says LSK’s managing director Juha Hiirsalmi. “They have assisted us with statistical calculations and extrusion optimisation for design, function, tolerances and characteristics.”
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| Jorma Laakso – sales manager at Hydro Aluminium Salko in Forssa (left) together with Juha Hiirsalmi, managing director of LSK Project OY, shows the balcony platforms’ outer extrusion equipped with a drainage channel. |
Unique cooperation
Together with LSK, Hydro has developed close collaboration and a unique logistics system where LSK runs its own production line of prefabricated balcony platforms in Hydro’s factory at Forssa.
“The balcony extrusions are lacquered here in our factory,” says Jorma Laakso, sales manager at Hydro Aluminium Salko. “Directly connected to our lacquering plant is LSK’s assembly line with their own staff where the platforms are assembled into complete units. In this way we have an integrated manufacturing process with optimal control over quality and quantities.”
Exposed constructions
Each week during the production period a long-distance articulated lorry left for Åbo where the load was sent on by boat to the final destination Bremerhaven. In Germany, the platforms were fitted with a floor covering before being sent to the shipyard where LSK’s staff carried out the final assembly.
Why aluminium products?
“Because of all the inherent characteristics of aluminium and a few more besides,” explains Juha Hiirsalmi. “It provides the optimal strength to weight ratio. The components are easy to work and handle at the same time as having good corrosion resistance to withstand the elements. This is really a case of exposed constructions! And, not least, they give a balcony construction with a high quality finish and elegant design!”
The newly refitted cruise line star now shines even brighter – thanks to aluminium!
Celebrity Galaxy/Mein Schiff
Laid down: 1996
Shipbuilders: Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany
Tonnage: 76,522 gross
Length: 259.7 metres
No. decks: 10 (for passengers)
Capacity: 2,681 passengers
Crew: 909
Owners: TUI Cruises, Germany
