- Fire safety systems to protect guests, crew and assets on board the Oasis of the Seas
- Flexible design to meet engineering and construction challenges
- Seasoned project management team
- Solution to support goal of environmental efficiency
Project OverviewIn 2004, Royal Caribbean began
designing what would become the
largest cruise ship the world had ever
seen. As part of its commitment to
safety, Royal Caribbean required fire
safety systems to protect the guests,
crew and assets on this new vessel –
while meeting the highest safety
standards.
After six years of design, engineering
and construction, this vision came to life in the form of the Oasis of the Seas. Its maiden voyage took place in December 2009. At 220,000 gross registered tons, the vessel is 40 percent larger than any other cruise ship ever built and accommodates 6,000 passengers and 2,100 crew members. It features amenities that are not typical cruise ship fare, such as a “town square” with dining, entertainment, and shopping; a 600-seat outdoor aquatheater; and a casino.
Solution
Fire protection at sea is demanding, and many requirements are in place to ensure maritime operations are protected and remain safe from fire. With a wide range of applications in marine fire protection, UTC Climate, Controls & Security is well-positioned to meet those requirements. For the Oasis of the Seas, two our companies were selected to provide fire safety solutions based on their technical expertise, flexibility and integrated approach – Marioff Corporation Oy and Autronica Fire and Security AS.
Marioff won a contract to provide the ship with its HI-FOG® water mist fire protection system. HI-FOG’s lightweight design and efficiency have made it popular on cruise ships, and every major new cruise ship built since 2002 has been equipped with this system. In addition, Autronica provided two solutions for the Oasis of the Seas – the AutroSafe Interactive Fire Detection System and the AutroMaster presentation system – marking Autronica’s largest single marine contact.
Project Synopsis
Construction of the Oasis of the Seas, which is double the size of what is normally considered a large cruise ship, was a major design and engineering project. Not only were there many subcontractors, equipment deliveries and logistics to be coordinated, the project also presented some uncommon challenges. For example, Marioff’s HI-FOG water mist fire protection system required piping throughout the vast Oasis of the Seas – a ship that is long enough to accommodate five Boeing 747s in the hull. Installing high pressure nozzles throughout the ship’s luxury suites required coordination with architects and yard engineers who wanted to be sure they did not block lighting or the air conditioning. Marioff also needed to install a water mist system to protect equipment, including a 97,000 kilowatt power plant and deep-fat fryers. In total, the Oasis of the Seas required 16,000 high pressure nozzles and other equipment from Marioff.
The Marioff HI-FOG system uses high pressure to produce a fine water mist, combining the extinguishing characteristics of water with the penetrative qualities of gases – while posing no danger to people or the environment.
HI-FOG uses up to 90 percent less water than traditional sprinklers, and causes less water damage as a result. Conventional sprinklers can sometimes result in lost use of several cabins due to water damage, representing a significant loss of revenue for cruise ships. The HI-FOG system also features stainless steel tubes that are much narrower in diameter than the pipes used in traditional sprinkler systems. With conventional systems, the significant weight of water in the piping network throughout a large vessel can affect the ship’s stability. HI-FOG’s excellent performance and low total system weight have made it very popular in the marine segment and today the system protects more than 1,000 passenger cruise ships.
The Autronica AutroMaster ISEMS (integrated safety and emergency management system) combines powerful fire detection capabilities with functions that help put the user in control in case of an emergency. AutroMaster ISEMS was developed in close collaboration with Royal Caribbean, and the Oasis of the Seas marked its first delivery. The system features a complete presentation for the control and monitoring of alarmed areas. Its simple user interface, with color graphics, clearly displays events such as smoke and heat development. In the event of an alarm, the precise alarm location can be identified immediately. With a built-in report generator, AutroMaster also provides cost-efficient documentation and maintenance logs – it can track historical activity for specific detectors and the entire system.
AutroMaster relies on the quality of the fire detection data from Autronica’s AutroSafe Interactive Fire Detection System, which routes information across panels in the network. These panels allow detector loops to be placed around the network, reducing cabling costs by returning cable-runs back to a central alarm system.
The system aboard Oasis of the Seas features eight AutroMaster presentation systems that, in combination with AutroSafe, control and monitor:
- 9,300 fire detectors and manual call points
- 1,030 fire doors
- 1,000 CCTV cameras (live video display in AutroMaster ISEMS)
- 830 fire dampers
- 300 sprinkler areas/valves
- 300 low location emergency lights