Finnish design company Merima has worked on a number of cruise ships lately, including Royal Caribbean International’s Ovation of the Seas.
Its work on the Quantum-class vessel covered the Avista public area, which included shops, restaurants and a wine bar. The restaurant, at nearly 3,000m2 covered a very large area.
Describing the project, a spokesman for Merima told Passenger Ship Technology that a lot of importance was placed on quality. “We are talking about really high quality stone and laminate walls. We have a huge supplier network.”
A strong advantage Merima has for projects of this kind is that it has its own production facilities to produce elements for ship interiors, including bars, and ceiling and wall elements, as well as materials such as stone and glass. “This is a benefit as, by producing it, we know the quality of the elements,” commented the spokesman. He said this also helped with the timeline for a project, which was important as timelines are so short nowadays. He added: “The timeline is a challenge. We focus on pre-planning projects and our project teams are very experienced.”
Having its own production facilities was a benefit when it came to working on the Quantum-class ships. The spokesman said: “Prefabrication is a growing trend. Our own production facility is well established, which puts us in a strong position.” For Ovation of the Seas, Merima prefabricated the wall elements and some of the furniture. “A lot of things that are normally done on board were done in our own production facilities, which speeded things up,” he said. “It also meant that the quality was higher.”
Other cruise ships Merima has worked on recently include Norwegian Escape for Norwegian Cruise Line. This work included the outside deck areas, spa areas and main atrium.
As well as working on cruise ship newbuildings, the company carries out retrofits. Merima’s spokesman said: “Refurbishment is growing in Asia, and the timeline there is even shorter.”
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