Final Virgin Voyages sister ship Brilliant Lady floated out at Fincantieri
Virgin Voyages and the Italian shipyard Fincantieri have marked the float out of Brilliant Lady, the final ship of the cruise line’s four-vessel Lady-class.
The ceremony was held at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente (Genoa) shipyard and marks a major milestone in the construction of the ship. She will now be moved to a wet dock, where work on her interiors and superstructure will continue. Brilliant Lady follows Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady, which have already been delivered and entered service, and Resilient Lady, which is due to enter service in 2023.
Like her sister ships, Brilliant Lady is 110,000-gross tons and has a capacity for 2,770 guests. Resilient Lady’s delivery was recently delayed due to supply chain shortages, but Seatrade Cruise News reports that Brilliant Lady is expected to be delivered on time.
Brilliant Lady’s maiden voyage is scheduled for December 24th, 2023 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Resilient Lady is scheduled to sail her maiden voyage on May 14th, 2023 from Piraeus. Brilliant Lady will boast “comfort class” certification, according to Fincantieri, which ensures minimum levels of noise and vibration, while the ship’s cabins will also offer extensive home automation.
By installing an app on their smartphones, guests will be able to manage a wide range of cabin functions (air conditioning, lighting, opening and closing of blinds, and control of music, and television). “This class of ships stands out for the design, as well as for the particular attention paid to energy recovery, featuring cutting-edge alternative technologies that reduce the ship’s overall environmental impact,” Fincantieri said in a release.
All four Lady-class ships are equipped with an energy recovery system that uses the main engines’ waste heat to produce approximately 1 megawatt, which contributes significantly to powering the ship’s hotel operations.
There is also a scrubber system, a device for the sustainable waste management of sulfur dioxides, and these units are also fitted with a catalytic converter which reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides.
The ships are also equipped entirely with LED lights to reduce energy consumption, while the hydrodynamic design of the hull provides excellent performance with consequent fuel saving.
