The Crown Princess is the fifth 'grand class' cruise ship to be built by Fincantieri in its Monfalcone shipyard in Italy. Just days before the end of the year Stage Technologies was awarded a contract, by HMS Italia SA, for the supply of the stage automation control and the power flying system for this ship which will go into service in spring 2006. The system will comprise twenty-one fixed speed and forty-two variable speed axes.
All eight of the grand class cruise ships currently in service have Stage Technologies Acrobat control systems in the main theatre, and several also feature the Juggler control system in the aft lounges. All but the original Grand Princess also feature Stage Technologies BigTow winches (over 200 winches in total) together with the unique TanJent guidance system.
Stage Technologies has now supplied twenty-six stage automation control systems for five cruise lines with over 1000 axes now in service on board cruise ships, in addition to the many land based installations and rental systems.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
