M/S Carnival Triumph

On the new M/S Carnival Miracle two balconies have Flexiteek decking installed for testing. The ship was delivered from the Aker Kværner Masa Yard late 2003.

Austal Ships has in May 2003 delivered two 74 berth 2677 tonnage cruise yachts, the M/S Tia Moana and the M/S Tu Moana, for Bora Bora Cruises to sail to the lagoons around the Pacific Island of Bora Bora.  www.boraborapearlcruises.com Classification is Bureau Veritas and the vessels are fully SOLAS compliant.

The 108 passengers 2632 tonnage M/S Andrea has undergone a total refit early in 2003 including installation of 550 sqm of Flexiteek decking. Originally built in 1960, she carries DNV Ice Class and is built for round the world cruises includic antarctic areas. She is on charter to ScanTours.

Seabourn Cruise Line www.seabourn.com has equipped its tenders on board M/S Seabourn Pride and M/S Seabourn Spirit with Flexiteek decking. The same goes for the tenders of M/S Seadream 1 and M/S Seadream 2 operated by www.seadreamyachtclub.com

The two sister ships M/S Corinthean II, ex. M/S Island Sun and M/S Island Sky has had a large refit with new outside decks from Flexiteek in 2004. The cruise ships were owned by a Norwegian company and operated from Mauritius. They are now operated by various worldwide charter companies.

One of the worlds largest sailing cruise ships, Star Clipper has been refitted with Flexiteek decking. The unique sailing vessel is operated by www.starclippers.com  

Inland Cruise Operators in Europe, like www.vikingrivercruises.com are installing Flexiteek decking on M/S Viking Europe and M/S Viking Sun.

The impressive 72 meter super yacht, RM Elegant is registered as a passenger vessel under SOLAS rules. She carries 30 guests and 31 crew. She was built at the Lamda Shipyard in 2005 and has Flexiteek decking. The following is an extract of her presentation in Boat International. "...the surface is not teak but synthetic Flexiteek, which looks pretty good, is pleasant to walk on and is supposed to be considerably more durable than wood".

Advantage for the ship operator
PVC based Flexiteek decking can be installed when the cruise vessel is in operation with a sailing crew and a supervisor. Decking on balconies can be installed by the crew using the outside lift. The deck can be power washed, which in the long term an ordinary teak deck would not sustain. Focusing on outside balconies, these can be made to look much nicer and more maritime with Flexiteek decking. Flexiteek decking will also add to the sound insulation and help reduce unwanted step noise. A high friction coefficient is important for the safety of the passengers whether the deck is wet or dry, see PDF-file.

New cruise vessels usually attach the balconies to the ship structure. Weight savings are important. Our decking only weighs 6.6 kg per sqm. After preparing the steel or aluminium deck with necessary levelling compound, the dry deck can be glued and the precut Flexiteek decking rolled onto the balcony. Flexiteek can be sanded down by using a movable sand belt moved in one direction.

Todays experience with teak decks
Teak is expensive to maintain properly.
Decks can be destroyed by an uninformed crew if extensively power washed.
Smoke from the engines contains oil which is difficult to remove from public teak areas.
Expensive re-caulking of the deck must be done every 4 to 6 years.
Water leaks down to the steel, and the teak deck often conceals the corrosion damages.

Advantage for the yard
Our new decking can be installed late in the building process. Precut panels without margin boards can be dry layed and finally cut before gluing to the deck or balcony. The gluing temperature is critical, and the best conditions are obtained with temperatures between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. We use the standard 103 millimeter width (cruise standard). Margin boards can be 125 millimeter wide.

Flexiteek decking for balconies can be pre-fabricated onshore. Installation of the Flexiteek deck is simpler and substantially faster than for teak. Margin boards can be cut around the net template and either glued or welded to the rest of the templates.

Maintenance 
With new Flexiteek decking, we recommend the yard /shipowner to add two coats of sealer the first year. The deck and the black caulking consist of the same material throughout. Cleaning can be done using a mild detergent like "Yes" and power wash. Under no sircumstances should the deck be treated with teak oil or wax.

Testing 
Flexiteek decking has been through extensive test programs to confirm its material properties and to satisfy the expectations of demanding cruise industry customers. The latest is the typetesting performed by SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute. This documents the important issues of high wear resistance, solid welding seam strength, water tightness, high surface friction, and good sound insulation improvements. The test values and results have been gathered in a Flexiteek Material Properties PDF-file.  

Regarding certificates: Lloyds Registry of shipping, Fax. dated February 12. 2003;
"We have discussed the proposed product FLEXITEEK, composed primarily of PWC material and confirm that it may be considered for use on external deck areas (excluding escape routes) on a case by case approval."
"As there are no specific fire test criteria for coverings on external decks we are unable to issue LR Certificates of Fire Approval for such a product."

IMO Certificate;
We have received by mail the following comments from Bob Markle, US Coast Guard, February 10. 2003;

"The most universal way of gaining acceptance of your product would be its approval as an "interior finish" under IMO Fire Test Procedures Code. But as you say, this requires passing toxity testing. But lack of this approval, simply means the product can't be used in every possible application."

Looking at the Coast Guards web pages on structural fire protection and the Coast Guard discussion of requirements for SOLAS ships, those on international voyages it doesn't appear that you can use the product as an interior system on these ships.

For domestic service in the US, the Coast Guard will accept construction and materials to international standards, but there are separate national standards for vessels only in service in the US. There is an exemption from approval for deck finishes less than 3/8"(or 9.5 mm) in thickness.

In summary, I don't believe you require any Coast Guard approvals to use your product on a US vessel in domestic service."

Bob Markle, US Coast Guard

Comments from Flexiteek International AS;
Our Flexiteek decking has a thickness of 5 mm. (less than 9.5 mm) and the other requirement is that the decking does not go up at the bulkheads of the ship. The PVC component of our decking material will release some chloride gas when under fire. It means that we cannot use it in interior space of cruise vessels. But Flexiteek used on balconies (outdoor) is OK.