MS ''Oosterdam'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...

, a division of

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

. As the second addition to Holland America's of ships, ''Oosterdam'' is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to , , and . The ship's name is derived from the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

translation for the eastern compass point, and is pronounced "OH-ster-dam."

Christening

''Oosterdam'' was christened by

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently ...

. The ceremony took place in Holland America Line's founding city,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

on 29 July 2003. The event was held over three days of celebrations marking the company's 130th anniversary. The joint

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the fleet, , joined ''Oosterdam'' "bow-to-bow" in welcoming her to the fleet.

Technical information

The machinery spaces aboard ''Oosterdam'' are vast and extend along two of its lowest decks for the most part of the vessel. MS ''Oosterdam'' is powered by a

CODAG Combined diesel and gas (CODAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships that need a maximum speed that is considerably faster than their cruise speed, particularly warships like modern frigates or corvettes. Pioneered by Germany with the , a CO ...

propulsion system encompassing five (three 16-cylinder and two 12-cylinder) Sulzer ZAV40S

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s (built under license by Grandi Motori Trieste, now owned by

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

, in Trieste, Italy) and a GE LM2500

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

, making it one of only a handful of merchant vessels that is powered by such an arrangement. It is propelled by two 17.62 MW (23956.53 ps), 160rpm synchronous freshwater-cooled ABB Azipod propulsors. Its two engine rooms are separated by a watertight bulkhead division. Each engine room has its own fuel, lubricating, cooling and electrical distribution systems and is fully independent of the other. The ship's potable water is produced by three large

Alfa Laval Alfa Laval AB is a Sweden, Swedish corporation, company, founded in 1883 by Gustaf de Laval and :sv:Oscar Lamm, Oscar Lamm. The company, which started in providing centrifugal separation solutions for dairy (see Separator (milk)), now deals in th ...

multi-effect flash evaporating

desalination plant Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwa ...

History of the name ''Oosterdam''

While no prior ship has been named ''Oosterdam'', the first vessel with the "Ooster" prefix launched 1913 as the 8,251-ton, one-prop Oosterdijk. At the time, "dijk" or "dyk" was the suffix used for cargo vessels, "dam" was used for passenger ships. She sailed between

and

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

for Holland America as well as serving the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

war effort during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Areas of operation

The ship has been alternating fall/winter cruises along the

Mexican Riviera The Mexican Riviera refers collectively to twenty cities and lagoons lying on the western coast of Mexico. Although there are long distances between these cities, they are often collectively referred to as the ''Mexican Riviera'' because of the ...

and summer in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. In the autumn of 2011, she visited

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

for the first time. After January 2012, Holland America paused visits to Mexico's west coast, in part due to safety concerns there in connection to the Mexican Drug War and in part due to the depressed cruise market in Southern California; the Oosterdam shifted to Hawaii,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the South Pacific. Holland America was the first cruise line to resume service to

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...

in the autumn of 2013 with MS ''Veendam'', and ''Oosterdam'' followed suit shortly thereafter. On 4 May 2019 ''Oosterdam'' collided with while docking stern to stern in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. There were no injuries reported and disembarkation on both ships proceeded as usual.

References

External links

Holland America Line official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oosterdam 2002 ships Ships of the Holland America Line Ships built in Venice Panamax cruise ships Ships built by Fincantieri