South Shields UK-based Solar Solve Marine recently won a contract to manufacture and dispatch 33 of the SOLASAFE roller sunscreens to Florida.
The screens were installed on cruise ship ‘Zuiderdam’s’ navigation bridge windows. They enable personnel on board to be able to protect themselves from the sun’s glare and heat or the ice and snow’s glare and cold, simply by lowering them, depending on the outside weather conditions.
When lowered, Solar Solve’s SOLASAFE roller sunscreens reject glare, heat or cold and UV radiation and act as a navigation safety aid and are type approved by four major class societies.
Solar Solve’s chairman, John Lightfoot MBE, commented, “’Zuiderdam’ is the ideal type of vessel to get full advantage from SOLASAFE’s feature’s of rejecting heat and cold. The vessel’s itineraries include round-the-world cruises, Caribbean cruises and Alaskan cruises with plenty of sun and plenty of ice and snow for the crew to be protected from. It was great news for us that we won this order.
“The global cruise industry is a highly competitive market for its suppliers, even more so since virtually all vessels were laid up for a year. Cruise shipowners have had a very difficult year but they are now getting back on track, very quickly and successfully and their potential customers are queueing up to take advantage of the situation. It’s good news all round,” he said.
‘Zuiderdam’ is a Vista-class cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line (HAL), part of the Carnival Group. It is the lead ship of the Vista-class vessels, named due the extensive use of glass in their superstructure.
She is fitted with a diesel-electric power plant and an Azipod propulsion system, and 85% of her staterooms have ocean views and 67% have verandas.
