As a traveler, I used to go by passenger ships around a number of islands in Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest tropical archipelago in the world. Ships of any kinds or types play very important roles in transporting people and goods throughout the country.
The big ships that I used to travel around with were the ones operated by PELNI - a state owned passenger line in Indonesia. The first group of passenger ships that were imported from Germany were MV Rinjani, MV Kerinci, MV. Kambuna and MV Umsini. MV stands for Motor Ship. The carrying capacity of each of these ships is around 2,000. During holiday seasons, PELNI allowed the ships to carry up to 2,500 people on board. The main propulsion unit is diesel engine. The diesel engine is used to turn the marine screw propeller, most often, the controllable pitch propeller (CPP). Electrical power for supplying the electricity needs of the ship is obtained from a number of auxiliary engines both installed in the engine room near the main engine or on the upper deck of the ship.
Passenger ship MV Bukit Siguntang operated by PELNI line in Indonesia
The difference between Cruise Ships and Passenger Ships
Passenger ships and cruise ships are similar but not the same. Both of them carry passengers but their purpose are different. Passenger ships like MV. Dobonsolo, KM Dorolonda and KM Nggapulu in Indonesia go from one port to another tranporting people mostly on one trip. But for cruise ships such as the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas. The cruise ships themselves have become the destination of holiday. The passengers usually buy round trip tickets meaning that they will finally return to the port where they first begin the ocean tour. Most of the passengers of cruise ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas who go to the Caribbean islands will return to, for example Miami, after they finish their tour. Oasis of the Seas Rooms are bigger and more luxurious than most of the rooms in passenger ships operated by PELNI.
Purpose of Sea Voyage and Facilities Inside
Because the purpose of traveling is different from cruising, the facilities that we will find in MV Nggapulu will be different from MV Oasis of the Seas. The Carribean sea may have been saturated with cruise ships but the Indonesian sea is not. In addition, cruise ships may be too expensive for the working class Indonesian people to travel around. There are bedrooms in both of the ships but Oasis of the Seas has more space for recreation. This cruise ship has swimming pools, game center, park, shopping center that we cannot find in most of the passenger ships that operate in Indonesian waters. The purpose of the trip determines how naval architects design the ship.
Design Approach
Ship design is the product of art and science. Architects who design modern cruise and passenger ships now have a lot of software which they can use. Different from home architects who usually use BIM software such as Archicad and Revit, Naval Architects can now use Maxsurf, Delftship, Rhino Marine or Foran to outline design concepts in their mind into a beautiful cruise ship. They may use Archicad but it is only limited to the interior design projects of the ship. BIM modeling software such as Archicad does not have stability, propulsion, and strength calculation capabilities that most naval architects need to design a ship or other floating structures.
So, if you are planning to take a spring vacation in tropical islands in Indonesia by visiting islands of this largest achipelago by ship, don't expect to experience luxurious sea voyage in PELNI ships. The facilities of the PELNI passenger ships are quite good but not luxurious. The price is much cheaper mostly less than 100 US dollars for economy class per trip. If you plan to cross the islands from Sabang to Merauke by buying first class ticket, you will spend less than 1,000 US dollars (including meals which are served by the ship). The cross country sea voyage in Indonesia will take your time around 2 weeks.
Also read:
Oasis of the Seas Rooms
Oasis of the Seas Interior
Oasis of the Seas Propeller
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