On May 5, 1935, tens of thousands of people admired the departure of the Normandie from the holds of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) for sea trials. With its 313 m long, with a capacity of 2,000 passengers, it is the fastest boat (32 knots, or 59 km / h) at the time.
The pride of France and the Chantiers de l'Atlantique!
Since then, other cruise ships have followed in its wake, ever larger and faster.
“France”, “Queen Mary II”, “Symphony of the Seas”, all evocative of prestige and technical performance.
The liner Normandie in the holds of Saint-Nazaire in 1932./Tallandier/Bridgeman images
Eighty-five years later, it is enough to survey the site of more than 100 ha and to hear the continuous sound of thousands of steel sheets mixed with that of the welding devices to understand that the site has survived. to his legend.
At the cost of numerous adaptations and changes of shareholders, Saint-Nazaire has succeeded in maintaining an industry in competition all over the world, with pavilions with much lower production costs.
To keep up with the shock, we had to multiply subcontracting… And when the noise of the machines ceases at times, the site turns into the Tower of Babel.
After a two-month hiatus linked to the Covid-19 crisis, activity resumed on May 11 almost normally, with a little less subcontractor staff on site.
A thick cruise ship order book ensures work for the Shipyards until 2029. It contains eleven firm commitments for 15 billion euros (€ bn) and 7 options or projects under discussion.
The latest market to date, that passed at the end of January by one of its main clients, the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC for two new giants of the seas, for an amount of € 2 billion.
To date, none of these orders have been canceled.
"Deliveries have been moved," admits a spokesperson.
For the time being, the Shipyards have 4 vessels in gestation.
In March, they delivered the “Celebrity Apex” to Norwegian-American Royal Caribbean.
A somewhat special delivery since, due to the crisis, the ship, which had been docked for five months, is now at anchor off Saint-Nazaire.
Race for innovations
The “Celebrity Apex” swimming pool ./LP/Jean-Baptiste Quentin
With its 306 m long and 39 high, it does not impress by its size but by its luxury and the quality of its services: VIP areas, restaurants, casino, theater with 1000 seats, spa, swimming pool, suites with terrace and jacuzzi ... It also embeds technological feats including the Magic Carpet, a rising platform, the surface of a tennis court that can support 100 people, multiple uses: pontoon for access to shuttles, bar or terrace.
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Another pride of the designers of the “Celebrity”, the verandas, allowing the cabins to extend onto the balcony.
“Before, the cabins had portholes.
Now, they are bay windows, to be closer to the water ”, explains Stéphane Cordier, naval architect, project and performance manager of the Yards.
An interior view of the “MSC Virtuosa” ./LP/Jean-Baptiste Quentin
From one boat to another, it's the race for innovations.
"There is an amusement park effect", underlines the latter.
The shipowners have no shortage of ideas: tropical gardens, basketball courts, running tracks, skating rink, bowling… They are also numerous to ask engineers to suppress the vibrations likely to give the impression that one moves.
These well-being criteria prevent engineers from lightening these behemoths.
“The most eccentric requests are often stopped because of the price and the restrictive marine context,” he continues.
And respect for the environment… “We do what the client asks of us”, explains the architect.
Excess has few limits.
“Big boats have the advantage of being unbeatable in terms of fuel efficiency per passenger and distance traveled.
We are focusing a lot of effort on this, ”he continues.
The concern has become a major concern for cruise passengers, their travelers and the inhabitants of the towns they approach are increasingly sensitive to it.
Less greenhouse gas emissions
The first ship to have benefited from these reflections is “Harmony of the Seas”, designed in 2012 and delivered in 2016 to Royal Caribbean.
In particular, it was equipped with a steam turbine, to produce electricity and reduce energy consumption by at least 20%.
With the shipowner MSC, the Shipyards are moving towards propulsion using liquefied natural gas (LNG) for their latest series.
Thus, "MSC Europa", available in 2022, will have, and this is unique in the world, a fuel cell demonstrator in association with the CEA.
LNG reduces the sulfur content, one of the important pollutants released by conventional fuel oil.
It also leads to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
VIDEO. Harmony of the Seas: Guided Tour and Crazy Numbers
In addition to efforts on the propulsion of these boats, the work also relates to the reduction of consumption on board, waste and water management.
One of the current great pride of the Chantiers is the propulsion by sail.
This innovation, tested on the “Ponant”, is also developed with MSC.
Three masts thus carry 3 sails of 1500 m2.
The objective is to advance only under sail, "which implies, admits Stéphane Cordier, to review the routes so as not to go head-to-head and to accept a certain flexibility".
A change of scale too, since these boats will be ten times smaller in volume than the current behemoths, with 200 passengers.
For a crossing of the Atlantic from east to west, catching the trade winds in the Canaries, the sails would provide 100% gain in propulsion and 30 to 50% reduction in consumption.
That said, we are not yet ready to see the first sailing cruise ship leave Saint-Nazaire because no order is entered in the shipyard book.
Reducing the size of boats is not yet on the agenda.
"It is better to have more passengers at one time than to multiply the number of boats on the water", justifies the company.
However, cruise enthusiasts are increasingly numerous in a global market valued at € 45 billion and dominated by four major players: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC and Norwegian Cruise.
Foreign players who therefore entrust France and its construction sites with the construction of these floating luxury hotels, the structures of which can be seen from one end of the site to the other.
400,000 t of steel
The liners are assembled block by block using a gantry capable of carrying 4,000 t./LP/Jean-Baptiste Quentin
At a rate of four years of manufacture by boat, the liners are assembled block by block, like a Lego set, using a gantry - the largest in Europe - capable of carrying 4,000 t.
The outer structure requires 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of steel.
The panels are nested in a hangar which extends over 800 m.
Inside, robotic machines facilitate the work of metal carpenters and welders.
Since 2015, a factory, located nearby, has produced the cabins in large series.
Fully equipped (excluding furniture), they are then installed in the steel shell.
The "Wonder of the Seas", the next largest liner in the world (362 m, 8,000 passengers) should weigh anchor in early 2022. Next to it, already in the water, the "MSC Virtuosa" whose delivery was scheduled in a month, should not leave Saint-Nazaire until next year.
By then, the European Commission should deliver its verdict on the buyout of Chantiers by the Italian Fincantieri.
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15 photos on the birth of the largest liners in the world, in Saint-Nazaire
Brussels has been examining the impact of this operation on competition for months.
Nothing says that these 150-year-old construction sites and the 3,300 employees will leave the bosom of the French state.
One thing is certain, with 40 million euros of annual investments on average, the noise of metal and welding is not about to stop in the cradle of the biggest liners of the future.
Reassure passengers during Covid-19
Screening, air conditioning, air purification by ultraviolet radiation… The shipowners are on deck to find new lasting technical solutions capable of eliminating any risk of contagion on board.
In the meantime, apart from a few restarts in Italy in particular, most of the cruise ships, true cultural hot spots because of the promiscuity of passengers, are still stranded at the quayside or in the harbor.