Three cruise ships have been successfully renovated to make them bigger and more powerful.
The Windstar Cruises ships project was led by Fincantieri’s Palermo shipyard in Italy. The first of the three sister vessels, the Star Breeze, was completed in 2020. This was followed by the Star Legend in mid-2020, and the Star Pride in October 2021. The renovation included the ships being extended in length from 135m to 160.6m.
“This successful technical cooperation with Wärtsilä has enabled our two companies to achieve a successful renovation and the smooth functioning of the joint project,” said Andrew Toso, deputy director, services at Fincantieri.
New engines and lengthening
The ships were each cut in half at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Palermo, Italy and a new 25.6m section added in the middle.
At the same time, the ships’ engines were removed and replaced to provide greater efficiency, better environmental performance, and extended range for the vessels. The new Wärtsilä engines will run on distillate fuels for compliance with the 2020 sulphur cap regulations.
Wärtsilä’s scope of supply for each of the three vessels included two Wärtsilä 26 main engines, two Wärtsilä 26 auxiliary engines, four Wärtsilä customised selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems for emissions control, gear boxes, power take-off solutions and controllable pitch propeller control upgrading.
The company also re-engineered the alarm, monitoring and automation system, and the power management system, as well as retrofitting the existing onboard systems. Extensive renovation work was also carried out to the entire electrical and automation network.
“The renovations represented the largest portfolio of products and systems that we have ever assembled for a single service project,” said Ivan Catalfamo, general manager project sales, Wärtsilä.
