Phil Howard, Business Development Manager for Anolis UK takes a closer look at important design factors for lighting Cruise Ships. With valuable experience in this sector, Phil explores both pitfalls and opportunities.
Cruise ships are subject to extreme weather conditions. These range from extremely high and low temperatures (+40° to -20°) as ships sail from the red hot Tropics to the freezing cold Arctic.
Sailing through vast amounts of seawater can also cause problems. Waves can quite easily measure 12 ft and over and spray onto the many deck areas. Most cruise ships also have extensive wash down procedures where the deck and pool areas are hosed down with saltwater. Saltwater corrodes metal five times faster than fresh water does. And salty, humid ocean air causes metal to corrode 10 times faster than air with normal humidity. Bacteria in ocean water also consumes iron and their excretions turn to rust.
Cruise ship pool areas have come a long way in the past decade or so. Long gone are the days of one single plunge pool filled with seawater, with a few deck chairs scattered around. Now, on mainstream cruise lines, pool areas are an onboard signature attraction and house the latest sound and lighting systems. LED spotlight, floodlight and linear wall grazers are often used to create the designed effects in these areas.
Cruise ships are subject to extreme conditions. Designers should apply specialist knowledge to the spec of any LED luminaires surrounding the pool areas and to any area exposed to the elements. The below paragraphs highlights these factors.
Pool deck luminaires which are subjected to spray from ocean waves and heavy rain need a high ingress protection rating. To classify as IP67 protected, the main body of the luminaire must be fully watertight. It should be tested to work for at least 30 minutes under 15cm to 1m of water.
As documented, high salinity causes a very corrosive environment. Luminaires with a standard paint finish can fail quickly as salt particles begin to break through any weak point and corrodes the metal layer beneath its surface. Once this process has started, it can be a real problem to rectify. If left untreated, will only worsen over time. All luminaires installed above deck should have a special marine-grade powder coat finish. This provides a solid barrier to salt particles and prevents them from permeating the finish. This means the aluminium beneath is protected and is far less likely to fail over time. Anolis recommends the design of LED luminaires with less curvature and straighter edges. This allows the paint finish to hold and withstand the harsh condition by avoiding weak joints.
The paint finish should be functional but also aesthetically pleasing. And in-keeping with the colour scheme of the pool deck area. Typically pool deck areas are finished in RAL9016 (a strong white) colour. All installed audio & visual equipment and often cabling should be of a similar RAL colour.
