Queen Elizabeth cleaning hull

[equinelady]

A heads up

Getting ready to board today for the 13 day cruise around New Zealand. Recently informed that the Queen Elizabeth will have to clean her hull, and therefore we are missing sailing through the fjord land and landing in Dunedin port. We are being compensated with 100 dollars OBC/passenger.  🧐😞
 

[bluemarble]

Here's a link to an article about this issue concerning New Zealand's environmental regulations found in the Australian "Cruise Passenger" online magazine. I think this is similar to the issue that caused QE to also miss the previously planned call to Fiordland on Christmas Day.

 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/news/queen-elizabeth-fourth-ship-to-fall-foul-of-new-zealands-environmental-laws/

[gwiblong]

I'm also due to board later today but I haven't had any information as to a change of itinerary.

Will we have another sea day? What will the new route be?

Grateful for any information.

Edited January 7, 2023 by gwiblong
Typo

[icat2000]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/300779568/cruise-itinerary-curtailed-thanks-to-strict-biosecurity-rules

 

 

[need_a_holiday]

Got an email a couple days ago announcing the itinery change.  According to the on board announcement we skip Fjordland  and Dunadin and go to Wellington.  In Rotorua they are spending a day cleaning Lizzies butt so they can enter the Bay of islands.  

 

It must be difficult to do a hull clean for Fjordland on the far south and for Bay of Islands on the north tip.

[Starstruckharper]

Two other ships - the Viking Orion and Coral Princess - have recently had their entry permits into NZ waters revoked because of biosecurity concerns (invasive snails/other marine organisms on their hulls) - here's a pretty comprehensive video discussing the issue of hull growths (that also touches briefly on the QV's recent in-service drydocking in Spain)

 

 

[equinelady]

Starstruckharper, thank you so much for sharing the video. The explanation does help with our disappointment.  Covid continues to wreak havoc.  
  Icat2000 thanks for the article. A loss of one port is not enough to ruin our holiday.  But we are extremely sad that the itinerary change meant we arrive in Wellington on a different day.  I was unsuccessful in changing our tour date for Weta.  This is causing turmoil in our group as that tour was our second most anticipated tour.  The shire being number one.  
   Will talk to concierge later today in the hope that something can be done.  

 

[ABoatNerd]

Same is happening with the Oceania Regatta, here is the link. They are off Australia.

 

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2905036-on-regatta-now/

 

Many lost ports and delays. Regatta lost power a couple of days ago, typical for that aging ship.  

Australia and NZ are not making friends these days.

[myden]

23 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

Same is happening with the Oceania Regatta, here is the link. They are off Australia.

 

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2905036-on-regatta-now/

 

Many lost ports and delays. Regatta lost power a couple of days ago, typical for that aging ship.  

Australia and NZ are not making friends these days.

And Azamara Quest, they are having their hull cleaned today after missing two ports.

[ABoatNerd]

5 minutes ago, myden said:

And Azamara Quest, they are having their hull cleaned today after missing two ports.

Is it true, none of these cruise lines had any idea this was a requirement to sail in these PC waters? Seems very, very suspect to me. Very suspect indeed. 

[LittleFish1976]

12 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

Is it true, none of these cruise lines had any idea this was a requirement to sail in these PC waters? Seems very, very suspect to me. Very suspect indeed. 

 

What does 'PC' stand for in this context? Presumably you don't mean 'politically correct'?

[ABoatNerd]

10 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

What does 'PC' stand for in this context? Presumably you don't mean 'politically correct'?

Exactly what PC was referring to. The NZ politics is obviously damaging cruising as is being reported on the Oceania, Azamara and other cruise boards. Well they are now cancelled in my books. 

[chengkp75]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:58 PM, ABoatNerd said:

Exactly what PC was referring to. The NZ politics is obviously damaging cruising as is being reported on the Oceania, Azamara and other cruise boards. Well they are now cancelled in my books. 

Yeah, marine biofouling in NZ is about as PC as the 750 trillion zebra mussels that have invaded the Great Lakes.  I applaud regulations like this to preserve the marine environment, even though I had to contend with them and their implementation every working day of my career, not just because it would affect a "nice vacation".  Just like ballast water management, SOX and NOX emission regulations, sewage, oil, and other pollution control regulations, you are going to see more and more places around the world implementing these kinds of regulations, and the IMO has recognized the problem and issued "guidelines", not regulations, about it.  Look for regulations to follow in the next few years.

[exlondoner]

33 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Yeah, marine biofouling in NZ is about as PC as the 750 trillion zebra mussels that have invaded the Great Lakes.  I applaud regulations like this to preserve the marine environment, even though I had to contend with them and their implementation every working day of my career, not just because it would affect a "nice vacation".  Just like ballast water management, SOX and NOX emission regulations, sewage, oil, and other pollution control regulations, you are going to see more and more places around the world implementing these kinds of regulations, and the IMO has recognized the problem and issued "guidelines", not regulations, about it.  Look for regulations to follow in the next few years.

There is clearly a great deal of work to do to make cruising - and all shipping - as harmeless as possible. And I certainly applaud this. Two things about the mussels. Firstly, was this deliberate or did I imagine it? Secondly, and slightly frivolously, are they good to eat?

[chengkp75]

The zebra mussel is native to Ukraine and southern Russia, like the Black Sea.  Ships took on ballast water containing mussel sprats, when discharging cargo there, and then when loading cargo in the Great Lakes, they discharged the ballast water containing adult mussels.  Recreational boating has spread the mussels (they grow on the boats) to many, many lakes in the Midwest and Western US.  They have no predators in the western hemisphere.

 

Here in the Northeast, we have a problem with a fresh water plant called milfoil, that gets fouled on recreational boats, and then spread to another lake, and so on.  With nothing to control the plant, it takes over a lake, kills the oxygen level leading to algae blooms, and cutting off sunlight, killing native species.  It can take over a lake in a couple of years.  The most effective remediation means found to date is to spread tarps over milfoil beds for a year to kill it off.  We have a strict boat inspection regulation to keep from introducing milfoil from lakes where it isn't present.

 

And, no, zebra mussels are not good to eat.

[bluemarble]

Interesting destination being reported by QE via AIS. Consistent with what's been discussed here, today is the day she is to undergo hull cleaning. She is currently about 50 NM to the NNE of Tauranga reporting a status of "Restricted Manoeuvrability" with a destination of "DIVING OPERATIONS".

[roscoe39]

On 1/12/2023 at 6:58 AM, ABoatNerd said:

Exactly what PC was referring to. The NZ politics is obviously damaging cruising as is being reported on the Oceania, Azamara and other cruise boards. Well they are now cancelled in my books. 

great if that is your attitude we don't want you down here anyway. Nz is very proud of its green image and if the ships that are visiting here are not up to standards to maintain our clean green image then it's their fault. 

Chengkp75 summed it up perfectly.

[exlondoner]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The zebra mussel is native to Ukraine and southern Russia, like the Black Sea.  Ships took on ballast water containing mussel sprats, when discharging cargo there, and then when loading cargo in the Great Lakes, they discharged the ballast water containing adult mussels.  Recreational boating has spread the mussels (they grow on the boats) to many, many lakes in the Midwest and Western US.  They have no predators in the western hemisphere.

 

Here in the Northeast, we have a problem with a fresh water plant called milfoil, that gets fouled on recreational boats, and then spread to another lake, and so on.  With nothing to control the plant, it takes over a lake, kills the oxygen level leading to algae blooms, and cutting off sunlight, killing native species.  It can take over a lake in a couple of years.  The most effective remediation means found to date is to spread tarps over milfoil beds for a year to kill it off.  We have a strict boat inspection regulation to keep from introducing milfoil from lakes where it isn't present.

 

And, no, zebra mussels are not good to eat.

Thank you.

 

How physically is the cleaning done? Is there a giant machine, and do they have to catch the matter scrubbed off?

[chengkp75]

56 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Thank you.

 

How physically is the cleaning done? Is there a giant machine, and do they have to catch the matter scrubbed off?

Here's a pretty typical brush cart, it's about 3' x 3', and is driven hydraulically (both brush motion and forward motion), and uses a suction action to keep it against the hull.  Much bigger than this, and the diver can't control it.  Depending on where the cleaning is done, determines whether or not the debris must be collected.  Those carts use a water driven "vacuum" to lift the debris to the surface, where the debris is filtered out and the water sent overboard.  Here's a link to a video about one of these systems:

 

 

[exlondoner]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Here's a pretty typical brush cart, it's about 3' x 3', and is driven hydraulically (both brush motion and forward motion), and uses a suction action to keep it against the hull.  Much bigger than this, and the diver can't control it.  Depending on where the cleaning is done, determines whether or not the debris must be collected.  Those carts use a water driven "vacuum" to lift the debris to the surface, where the debris is filtered out and the water sent overboard.  Here's a link to a video about one of these systems:

 

 

More questions. How do they decide a hull needs a scrape? Is it where the ship has come from? Or how long since it was last done? Or do they have a system of visual inspection or what?

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

More questions. How do they decide a hull needs a scrape? Is it where the ship has come from? Or how long since it was last done? Or do they have a system of visual inspection or what?

I believe the NZ requirement is for a diver survey, and they decide what percentage of the hull is fouled, and with what types and species of growth, to determine whether cleaning is required.  A cleaning service will do a survey dive first, to determine how much work is involved, to be able to quote a price.

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

I believe the NZ requirement is for a diver survey, and they decide what percentage of the hull is fouled, and with what types and species of growth, to determine whether cleaning is required.  A cleaning service will do a survey dive first, to determine how much work is involved, to be able to quote a price.

Thank you.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Add Regent Explorer to the list of hull cleaning woes. They are currently undergoing their third hull cleaning in the last two weeks.

Here is the thread about their efforts:

And thanks for providing the informative video.

[bluemarble]

QE is spending the night in Auckland instead of proceeding on to Bay of Islands today as scheduled (January 17th local time). I saw a post on social media a couple days ago which I can't find anymore indicating they were unable to complete the hull cleaning off Tauranga and will have to miss Bay of Islands as a result. I'm hoping someone can confirm the details of what passengers have been told.