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 Tourism, tours k ...

of the

Holland America Line Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American cruise line operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Founded in 1873 in Rotterdam, Netherlands as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), the company operated regular trans ...

, a division of

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British and American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across eight cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of the Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival ...

. Launched in 2002 as the line's second Vista, ''Oosterdam'' is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent 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 ref ...

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

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

translation for the eastern compass point.

Christening

''Oosterdam'' was christened by

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands Princess Margriet of the Netherlands (Margriet Francisca; 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 a ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

on 29 July 2003, Holland America Line's founding city. 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 navy, 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 ...

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

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 COD ...

propulsion system encompassing five Sulzer ZAV40S

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s (three 16-cylinder and two 12-cylinder, built under license by Grandi Motori Trieste, now owned by

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

, in Trieste, Italy) and a GE LM2500

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

. She is 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. Each engine room is fully independent of the other, with its own fuel, lubricating, cooling and electrical distribution systems. The ship's

potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

is produced by three large

Alfa Laval Alfa Laval AB is a Swedish company, founded in 1883 by Gustaf de Laval and Oscar Lamm. The company started by providing centrifuges to dairies to be used to separate cream from milk. It now deals in the production of specialised products ...

multi-effect flash

evaporating Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humi ...

desalination plant Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination. This is important for agriculture. It is possible ...

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 freighter 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 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 Brita ...

for Holland America as well as serving the Allied war effort during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Areas of operation

In recent years, Oosterdam is sailing in the Mediterranean in summer and spending winters in South America. The ship had previously 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 th ...

and summer in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. In the autumn of 2011, she visited

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

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 The Mexican drug war is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing Asymmetric warfare, asymmetric armed conflict between the Federal government of Mexico, Mexican government and various Drug cartel#Mexico, drug trafficking syndicates. When the ...

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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Holland America was the first cruise line to resume service to

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

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 cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. 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