The floating out ceremony of “Brilliant Lady”, the last of four ships which Virgin Voyages (new cruise operator and a brand part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group) ordered to Fincantieri, took place today at the Sestri Ponente (Genoa) shipyard.
“Brilliant Lady”, as well as her sisterships “Scarlet Lady”, “Valiant Lady” and “Resilient Lady”, weigh about 110,000 gross tons, are 278 meters long and 38 wide. They all feature over 1,400 guest cabins designed to host more than 2,770 passengers, accompanied by 1,160 crew members on board to deliver the famed Virgin service. The quality of life on board is guaranteed by the “comfort class” certification, testifying minimum levels of noise and vibration, as well as by an extensive use of home automation. Thanks to this, by installing an app on their smartphones, guests are able to manage a wide range of cabin functions (air conditioning, lightening, opening and closing of blinds, music, and television).
This class of ships stands out for the design, as well as for the particular attention paid to energy recovery, featuring cutting-edge alternative technologies that reduce the ship’s overall environmental impact. For example, the ships are equipped with an energy production system of approximately 1 MW, which uses the diesel engine’s waste heat. In addition to a scrubber system, that is a device for the sustainable waste management of sulfur dioxides, the units are also fitted with a catalytic converter which reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides. They are entirely equipped with led lights to reduce energy consumption, while the hydrodynamic design of the hull provides excellent performance with consequent fuel saving.
