Chapter 146: Customizing a Ship

The pirate attack this time had resulted in a total of one hundred and thirty-five crew members and twenty-three passengers who were dead or injured.

After repelling the first onslaught by the pirates, Prince Steele immediately ordered the ship to turn back and they returned to Walvis Bay overnight.

As the host, Chen Chen casually paid for the remaining vacancies in all the hotels of Walvis Bay, so that the passengers who had escaped with their lives had a place to stay.

These poor people would probably never dare to set foot on a ship again.

As for this pirate attack, the Namibian authorities also expressed that they took this matter very seriously, stating that in the near future, combating pirate forces would be one of their basic national policies.

On Chen Chen’s side, the heirs of the four financial families had died at his hands. Naturally, what followed next was a whole lot of trouble. Even so, it was a good thing that there were so many witnesses in the casino, so there were no issues that could not be cleared up.

Moreover, since it was their foolish sons who wanted to usurp the throne, those fathers, as long as they were not completely useless, would not be oblivious to what was going on.

Chen Chen was not interested in the subsequent matters and simply handed over the whole shambles for Qian Wenhuan to deal with. He took the company’s negotiators with him and flew directly to Germany, Europe.

Germany was a nation under the federal system of the Earth Federation. It had suffered a disastrous defeat after World War II but in 1992, the United Nations’ five core members announced that the United Nations would officially transform into the Earth Federation, causing a thorough reshuffle of all the forces in the world. Germany slickly got rid of its image as a defeated country and had gained an opportunity to rise once more.

With Little X making the appointment, Chen Chen headed straight to the Meyer Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, to discuss his order of a cruise ship with the shipyard’s boss.

There were only four shipyards in the world capable of building cruise ships of more than 200,000 tons, namely the Aker Shipyard in Finland, the Meyer Shipyard in Germany, the Atlantic Shipyard in France, and the Fincantieri Shipyard in Italy.

Although the Meyer Shipyard was not the most affordable one among these, it had the fastest construction speed among all shipyards.

The Meyer Shipyard was known as the “German Master”, being the largest and most modern shipyard in Germany. As soon as Chen Chen got off the plane, the manager of the Meyer Shipyard was there to welcome him.

After a round of greetings, they all got into the car and headed toward the headquarters of the Meyer Shipyard.

After that, Chen Chen toured the dock of the Meyer Shipyard, which was the largest indoor dock in the world up until now.

This dock was 504 meters long, 125 meters wide, and 75 meters tall. Being in it was like standing in the middle of a dragon’s nest, in which humans were just tiny bugs.

The person in charge of bringing Chen Chen around the dock was a middle-aged man in his forties, who had a goatee and a calm, steady temperament.

At this moment, the man was saying, “Mr. Chen Chen, that ends our tour. May I ask what sort of cruise ship you’re thinking of customizing?’

“Are there many types of cruise ships?” Chen Chen eyed a cruise ship under construction as he asked.

“Not that many, but according to the categories of economic level, cruise ships could be divided into economic and commercial cruise ships. Besides, there’s also the luxury cruise ship.”

The man with the goatee explained, “For example, the Oasis-class cruise ships, which are the largest in the world, are all luxury cruise ships.

“The main feature of a luxury cruise ship is to emphasize the travel experience of passengers. You should know that the size of the Oasis-class cruise ships can accommodate tens of thousands of passengers.

“However, to provide the passengers with a more superior experience, the cruise ship only designed more than 2,000 suites, which can only accommodate 6,000 people. Most of the space has been turned into public facilities for recreation.

“Moreover, the facilities in these ships are also top-notch.”

Mr. Goatee pointed at a ship under construction. “On the macro-scale, the restaurants; on the micro-scale, the furniture within the guest rooms — it’s just a ship cabin, but the furnishings within are that of a five-star hotel. This is what characterizes a luxury cruise ship.”

Chen Chen nodded as he listened. “What about in terms of the engine’s power system?”

“For their power systems, cruise ships have high standards for performance, noise, and other benchmarks. According to our company’s statistical analysis of global cruise ships, most luxury cruise ships use ‘diesel-electric’ propulsion power systems, accounting for more than 70%.

“Only 10 cruise ships are using the ‘combined diesel’ hybrid power system while 33 cruise ships are using diesel power systems. Only 1 cruise ship uses nuclear power for propulsion.”

Before Chen Chen could ask anything, Goatee automatically explained, “This ‘diesel-electric’ propulsion power employs diesel generators to generate electricity, providing electric power to the motor which drives the propellers. It’s extremely suitable for luxury cruise ships, both in terms of cost and performance.”

“What about nuclear energy?”

Chen Chen asked right away.

Goatee looked a little puzzled by this but still replied, “Although humans have created nuclear power plants, it must be said that the power in cruise ships is very different from land-based installations. The reactors are expensive and difficult to maintain. On a cruise ship, the investment needed for nuclear power is ten times that of ordinary mechanisms, which is very uneconomical.”

“I see.” Chen Chen nodded. “In that case, let’s use a diesel-electric system for my cruise ship, just like everyone else.”

“That would be most sensible.”

Goatee approved. “So, are you planning to customize the cruise now? I don’t know what your requirements are. We have a large number of ship designers who can help you with this.”

“I want my cruise ship to be as big as possible.”

Chen Chen thought for a while. “About 500 meters in length and 100 meters in width. The more power, the better. I hear that ships have more than one power system?”

“In most cases, cruise ships have one main power system and another backup system,” When Goatee heard the measurements Chen Chen listed out, his eyes bulged a little as he replied reflexively.

“In that case, I’ll double the whole thing.”

Chen Chen nodded. “I want the cruise ship to be equipped with two main power systems and two backup power systems.”

“...”

Goatee was startled and then he smiled drily. “Mr. Chen, I’m afraid there’s some misunderstanding. A power system includes diesel generators, electric motors, and other equipment. These devices are massive and extremely heavy. Four sets of power equipment would occupy the entire bottom of the hull. Economically speaking, it’s not advantageous...”

“That doesn’t matter.” Chen Chen shook his head. “I’m not building this cruise for profit, but to build a maritime experimental base.”

“A maritime experimental base?” Goatee sounded even more baffled.

Chen Chen nodded. “Yes, I want plenty of recreation facilities on my ship, but I don’t need guest suites and the like, just some dorms and laboratories at most. Plus, the laboratories need a lot of power system support.”

“I understand.”

Goatee finally understood and forced a smile. “In other words, you’re not planning to build a cruise ship, but a work ship?”

“Yes, a work ship that can be anchored in ‘international waters’ for experiments,” Chen Chen replied pointedly.

“Very well...”

Goatee wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead. “In that case, how much power are you expecting to use? If your boat needs so much room, we recommend that you choose our company’s largest Leroy-Somer LSA62 generator. Each generator produces around 20,000 kilowatts.”

“Of course, I’ll choose the most powerful one then,” Chen Chen replied matter-of-factly.

“That’s the wisest choice.”

Goatee was a little relieved. “We have 12 Leroy-Somer LSA62 generators left here. If you want to install a few extra for backup, how many generators would you like to buy?”

When Chen Chen heard this, he stretched out his hand and clenched it tightly into a fist before Goatee’s eyes.

“I want all of them!”