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The World’s Largest Circulation Marine Industry Publication • The Information Authority for the Global Marine Industry since 1939

October 2009

MARITIME Marine Salvage

REPORTER
ENGINEERING NEWS
AND

www.marinelink.com
Cleaning Up
Old Wrecks

Marine Design
The Renovation of M/V Freewinds
Port of Los Angeles
Busy, Secure & Green
Five Minutes with
Jens Alers
Tech File
The SatCom Evolution
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Reprinted from the OCTOBER 2009 Edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

A magnificent ship renovation via

Elbow Grease, Heart & Soul

In today’s “I need it yesterday” world, emphasis on quantity often overpowers quality, while the quick fix can
supersede the correct one. Step back, take a deep breath and enjoy the fruits of a tremendous labor, a labor of
love that resulted in the top-to-bottom renovation of storied ship with a unique owner.
A cruise ship earning a new lease on life via
renovation is hardly a unique concept. Costing
upwards of a half a billion dollars with a lifes-
pan of 30 years or more, these specialty ships
need to fine-tune décor and amenities to stay
relevant to the cruising public’s evolving taste.
But the cruise ship M/V Freewinds is no
ordinary ship.
Born as the M/S Bohéme and a founding
member of the Caribbean cruise shipping
industry operating out of Miami, M/V
Freewinds has for more than 20 years been
owned and operated as the cruise ship for the
Church of Scientology, and was a recent recip-
ient of a top to bottom, inside out renovation
which qualifies it as one of the finest ship ren-
ovations ever.
“The level of quality is
incredible. Nobody can afford this
• By Greg Trauthwein, Editor
M/V Freewinds to its crew and caretakers is
much more than a ship: it is home, it is a
refuge, a place of study and reflection. It was
with this frame of mind that – when the deci-
sion was made to keep it as the Church of
Scientology’s aquatic platform for years to
come – helped to plan and execute the job.
“This was a historic renovation, as this is one
of the first ships to start the cruise shipping
business in the Caribbean. To bring a ship like
that back to better condition than when she
man with more than a few high-profile cruise
first arrived is unheard of … it is quite fantas-
ship projects under his belt. “The level of
tic” said Tomas Tillberg, Tillberg Design
quality is incredible. Nobody can afford this
U.S., who was responsible for taking the orig-
level of quality anymore, and they are inde-
inal plans of a land-based architect to their
pendent of commercial consideration.”
maritime conclusion, providing drawings and
In 2005, when the Church of Scientology
specifications so the job could be bid.
was evaluating the future of its marine opera-
“The effort and enthusiasm of the people
tions, it had owned and operated M/V
involved” is what stands-out on this project,
Freewinds for nearly 20 of its 37-year exis-
according to Jon Rusten, COO and VP
tence. The question essentially revolved
Development, Ocean Development Group, a
around two words: renovate or replace.

level of quality anymore.” • Jon Rusten,

COO and VP Development, Ocean

Development Group
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Before After

“This was a historic

renovation, as this is one of the first ships to

start the cruise shipping business in the

Caribbean. To bring a ship like that back to better

Before condition than when she first arrived is unheard of … After

it is quite fantastic” •

- Tomas Tillberg, Tillberg

Design U.S.

Starboard Main Engine Original brass details in the

engine room and around the
ship were freed from 40 years
of paint and restored to original
quality by the Freewinds crew.

Before After

The engine control room was restored to a

whole new level, integrating traditional
(Photo Credit: Johnny Riert) originality with modern graphics and lighting.
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The original sound powered phone.
“We were looking at the age of the vessel,
and trying to determine what our long-term
look was going to be,” said THE CHIEF
ENGINEER. “We surveyed several other ves-
sels in 2005, and we came to realize that we
had a gold-mine sitting right underneath our
feet.”
“The waiting lists for a new building were
far past our operational plans,” said Ludwig
Alpers, Port Captain, M/V Freewinds. “We did
survey available vessels but the market was
slim and there was nothing that would have
been a viable upgrade to the vessel we already
had. To put it bluntly, they don't build ships
like they used to.”
Old Ships = Good Ships?
If nothing else, the maritime industry likes a
good ship story, and the M/V Freewinds (ex-
M/S Bohéme) has a good one to tell. The ship
was built in 1968 by Wärtsilä in Turku,
Finland, for Wallenius Lines as M/S Bohéme,
measuring 134 x 21 m with a 5.5 m draft and
powered by a pair of Wärtsilä-Sulzer RD56-8
diesels, generating 14,000 BHP and driving
the twin-screw ship to 20 knots, according to
the ship history site www.faktaomfartyg.se
and http://en.wikipedia.org.
Originally envisioned as a car ferry to oper-
ate between Bremerhaven and Harwich, the
ship featured a strong ice class hull and was
designed to carry 460 passengers. But as often
happens, plans change, and the fate of M/S
Bohéme did too as the ferry line didn’t turn out
to be as successful as planned, and at the same
time Commodore Cruise Line was in search of
a new ship: M/S Bohéme was targeted. At keel
laying it was re-planned to be a cruise ship,
and with M/S Bohéme, Commodore helped to
start what is widely regarded as the birth of the
10/14/2009 9:52 AM
“To put it bluntly, they
don't build ships like they
used to.”
• Ludwig Alpers, Port
Captain, M/V Freewinds
modern-day Caribbean cruise industry, offer-
ing year-round, seven-night cruises out of
Miami. Given the difference between the
ship’s original design and its eventual use, a
number of problems quickly presented them-
selves, and the ship was rebuilt at Germany’s
Blohm + Voss in Hamburg in 1970, in part to
address a subpar air conditioning system and
to upgrade the refrigeration system.
Following the rebuild, for the next 12 years the
ship had the same weekly route: Miami –
Puerto Plata – St: Thomas and an overnight
stay in San Juan. P.R., with the last port being
Cape Hatien.
In 1986 the ship was sold to San Donato
Properties Corporation, Panama, and renamed
M/V Freewinds, and Majestic Cruise Lines
operated it for the Church of Scientology, its
present owner. Upon taking its new cruise
ship, the owners set out on a 1.5 year renova-
tion using local contractors in Curacao and
church members, which essentially trans-
formed the ship from a cruise ship targeting
the general public to a luxurious floating
retreat for members of the Church of
Scientology, according to Alpers.
“In 1986, the Freewinds fit the target size for
the vessel's planned operations, to serve as a
religious retreat for the parishioners of the
Church of Scientology,” said Alpers. “Vessels
were surveyed all over the world but the
Boheme was the perfect combination of size
and condition for our needs.”
M/V Freewinds Today
“One of the most significant achievements
on the project was to join the talents of a large
number of professionals and artisans and drive
their efforts to a common goal with the up-
most quality in the final product,” said Carlos
Page 3
Restored brass
clearview screens.
H. Reyes, president of The Reyes Group and
Design Support Team, lead Architect on the
project.
When the decision was made to remake the
ship, the owner consulted with several leading
organizations that could take its overall vision
for the ship and deliver form, function, a budg-
et and a plan. Enter Ocean Development Corp.
and Tillberg Design U.S., a pair of firms inti-
mately familiar to the growth of the U.S.
cruise shipping industry, as well as a host of
contractors in different ports of call.
“I got involved in the 2nd stage when they
really wanted to make something special,” said
Jon Rusten of Ocean Development Group. “I
helped them define the scope of work, strate-
gize about how far this would be taken, and
provided timeline, budgets and vision, to help
them facilitate, define the objectives and bring
it to reality.” The Freewinds hull, engines and
equipment were all in excellent operational
condition, and in researching replacement
equipment it became obvious that it would be
difficult to find equipment compatible to its
existing systems, and that the lead-times, cus-
tomization and suitability for the ship were all
prohibitive. “Very early in the planning, we
recognized the unique fact that the biggest
problem we were facing was not that the
equipment was in bad shape or needed to be
replaced, rather it looked old and worn and
needed a face lift. That really became the mis-
sion,” said Captain Mike Napier, Master
Freewinds.
“We came to the project by kind recommen-
dation of Tomas Tillberg to the owner,” said
Reyes. “Our main objective was to achieve a
level of products according to the overall
vision of the project and produce the necessary
components and elements within the budget
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assigned to it. We had to conform a great
group of artisans and overcome difficult issues
of all kinds as soon as the ship arrived to
Colombia, where the interior refit took place”
Thus embarked the plan to not simply
‘spruce up’ the ship, but to extensively and
completely renovate each and every space on
the ship, with the intention of making it better
than the original when installed nearly 40
years previously. Making the scope of the ren-
ovation all the more amazing: while the organ-
ization brought on a bevy of contractors to ful-
fill much of the heavy duty fabrication and
construction, it was the crew who was respon-
sible for the intricate and laborious renewal
and renovation, including a meticulous clean-
ing and rejuvenation of the engine room, the
engine control room and the bridge (including
the machining of the new stainless steel parts,
overhauling the equipment, painting and pol-
ishing), all while the ship stayed in operation.
“The restoration (which physically started in
August 2008 and was completed in June 2009)
was done parallel to the scheduled interior
upgrades to the vessel and was much, much
more a matter of man-hours and the elbow
grease of the crew,” said Alpers. “I can't even
imagine what a project like this would have
cost if it had been contracted out commercial-
ly. Every crew member onboard chipped in
some time on the project.”
The challenges when embarking on any ship
renovation are numerous.
“The most challenging thing was the
requirement to ‘think outside the box. It
required a lot of creation and new ideas on
how to just take an ordinary piece of equip-
ment and turn it into a show piece. You had to
get away from the usual ideas of throwing
some new paint on it and rather envision what
it would look like with Stainless steel control
10/14/2009 9:53 AM Page 4
From Left: The new
bridge; the restored
original searchlight;
and the telegraph.
(Sources for information:
www.faktaomfartyg.se &
http://en.wikipedia.org supplied
of the historical information
regarding the ship prior to 1986)
levers and sight glasses and a new stainless into a pristine condition.”
steel base,” said the M/V Freewinds Naval This included using 15 different sandpaper
Architect. While the ship and plan were indeed grits to help uncover and ultimately restore
unique, Tomas Tillberg of Tillberg Design many of the brass highlights present but cov-
U.S. said that the age of the ship and the con- ered for decades by paint.
dition of the equipment didn’t pose any specif- The renovations also included an environ-
ic problems, per se. “We did another ship mentally friendly hull treatment, a non-toxic
along those lines years back – the QE2 – but glass flake epoxy system with no environmen-
nowhere near to these standards, to this level. tal impact. This provides a very hard coating
I think the challenges are pretty similar to the which makes it difficult for marine growth to
refits that we do on the other ships. You plan adhere.
the best that you can, but you will always have Today the ship accommodates 340 passen-
surprises. The challenge, really, is to get her to gers in 125 cabins and carries 256 crew.
the expectation of the owner.” The expectation Renovations complete, the story of M/V
of the owner was to “Preserve the heritage of Freewinds begins again.
the ship and to make it look completely pris-
tine”
Another challenge was maintaining the oper-
ational aspects of the equipment while also
upgrading the looks. For example, the moor-
ing bits take quite a bit of load and it was not
wanted that they just replace them out with
stainless steel piping and plate; that would not
have the equivalent strength. So they clad the
existing bitts with stainless steel sheeting, and
then welded new top plates on them, making
them look like they are fully stainless but the
full steel structure is still there.The engine
room, with its original Wärtsilä-Sulzer RD56-
8 diesels, posed a dual challenge, first and
foremost regarding the sheer size and surface
areas (70,000 sq. ft.) of the spaces, but also the
fact that it would remain in full operation.
“There was no way we could just waterblast or
sand all of the paint off of the equipment, bulk-
heads and piping,” Alpers said. “In the end, we
located an environmentally friendly paint
stripper that was not solvent based that we
could use throughout the engine room spaces
without creating dust or fire hazards … this
was really key to getting the machinery spaces