A recent viral post has cruisers questioning what an interestingly large piece of equipment is aboard one of the world's largest cruise ships.
"Sailing on the Allure of [the Seas] with my buddies and we look up and see this - what is it?" asked BobcatBison on the r/royalcaribbean Reddit thread.
Attached to the post is a photo of a heavy-duty crane that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie rather than a piece of equipment on a cruise ship.
In reality, it's a Palfinger PK 150002 marine crane, according to Marine Link. When retracted, the crane resembles a tightly folded mechanical arm.
(Credit: rctfenix/Reddit)
However, once extended, it's used to help transport heavy cargo from the lower to the upper decks. Examples include transporting and planting trees in Central Park and loading and unloading lounge chairs to the pool deck.
The PK-Palfinger Kran website states that the crane has a 27-meter (or ~88-foot) outreach and is DNV-certified. Similar cranes were delivered to Malaysia in 2018 with a maximum load capacity of 30,000 kilograms, which equates to around 66,130 pounds.
The cranes are found on other ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet, including Wonder and Oasis of the Seas.
"These are orbital defense cannons"
(Credit: fgpalm/Reddit)
The post has received over 350 upvotes and 150 comments, many of which are far more creative than straightforward.
"It’s a rail gun for when [C]arnival ships get too close," wrote BadProof5346.
Commercial-Place6793 added, "It’s how they signal to the alien spaceships where there are lots of drunk people ready to be abducted [for] testing."
(Credit: Juan-88PR/Reddit)
Other comical answers include a harpoon for whaling to help stock the Windjammer, a hydraulic t-shirt cannon, a laser-guided missile, a catapult for naughty passengers, a turbolaser battery, and a machine gun for pirates.
Not the first time the equipment's purpose has been questioned
(Credit: rattmaul/Reddit)
Cruisers have wondered what the crane has been used for in the past, with similar photos and questions asked on cruise forums.
rattmaul posted a similar query on the r/Cruise Reddit forum about 8 months ago. They were also sailing on Allure of the Seas.
Like the recent post, many comments were unserious and joking in nature.
(Credit: Leroyr55/Royal Caribbean Blog forum)
Aubgurl, for example, said, "It’s a laser beam that zaps people trying to save chairs at the pool."
Another user wrote, "Looks like a launcher for Naval Strike Missile with a range out to 140 nautical miles equipped with a 260 lb titanium cased penetrating blast and controlled fragmentation warhead...Useful if [CocoCay] is in danger of being invaded and you need to buy time until you can call in a strike package of [B-52s] or [B-1s] with Harpoons and LRASMs."
"It’s for runners [who] are late coming back to ship!" added Careless-Fortune-356.
(Credit: DustinC223/Reddit)
Among the funny answers are practical responses about the crane's intended purpose, revealing that it's a telescoping crane.
