Photo: Royal Caribbean International
Oasis is based on
Safe Return
To Port Concept
Oasis of the Seas is the biggest cruise vessel in the world.
Editor of Seatec Magazine met William S. Wright, Captain
of the ship, in Turku in November 2008, as Oasis was floated out from dry dock to wet dock to begin the final stages of interior work.
C
aptain Wright says that the modern
al. He was also the start-up Captain for
“safe return to port” safety philos-
Freedom of the Seas, currently the larg-
ophy developed by the I.M.O. has been
est ship in the world with sister ships Lib-
a foundation for the design of the ship.
erty of the Seas and Independence of the
“We have embraced the Safe Return to
Seas (and 40 per cent smaller than Oasis
Port Concept since 1999 when we intro-
of the Seas).
duced it with our Voyager class vessels.”
Wright is also one of the few Amer-
This concept, says Captain Wright, is rooted
ican captains in international cruising and
in having the ability to completely lose ei-
currently serves as the Senior Vice Presi-
ther one of the two fully segregated engine
dent of Marine Operations for the cruise
rooms and still be able to return to port on
line at the same time.
the ships own power while maintaining full
onboard comfort for guests and crew.
Beyond FMECA analysis (Failure
What does it mean to be “start-up”
captain and why are there two captains
on the Oasis?
Mode, Effects and Critical Analysis) ex-
“Start-up captain(s) are active during
tensive 3-D topographic simulations are
the planning and construction process of
used to verify the detailed configurations.
the vessel. They are typically involved al-
”In this way we can simulate with a high
ready from the design phase. We follow
degree of accuracy the consequences of
the ship’s construction from when first
losing any single or multiple spaces. This
steel is cut through delivery