Mothballed ships driving around aimlessly.

[pezzy669]

So in my random cruise line internet browsing I came upon cruise mapper that lets you see boats location and track in real time (interesting site.....imagine more interesting when cruises are happening).     

I noticed quite a few boats from different lines just randomly cruising around in the Caribbean -  for example Symphony of the Seas has just gone back and forth and round and round just north of where the other RC fleet is sitting idle.

Are the boats like cars where you need to drive them around on occasion to keep things moving per say and its more problematic to just leave them parked?   Are these training runs?              

[WAAAYTOOO]

They do have to be under way to make fresh water but I doubt that’s the reason that they are moving.  

[MuttMutt]

While they may not actively be cruising I can imagine there are certain types of work that are being done.  And some of that work will also require them to move around and make turns to ensure that things still work correctly.  Something as simple as replacing a piece of navigation hardware or updating some software will mean lots of checks because if they are going along and it acts up bad things can happen.

And in a lot of ways the ships are more like a power plant than a car.  They don't just get mothballed and left to sit.

[SpeedNoodles]

Someone was explaining this on the Insider's Zoom chat the other night.  If they park them and turn everything off it takes several weeks to get them back up and running once they want to. It's not like starting a car. 

[rjac]

15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

They do have to be under way to make fresh water but I doubt that’s the reason that they are moving.  

That and also the Captain and crew get bored looking at the same ocean day after day, so they keep moving around. 

[jticarruthers]

Generally speaking it is "better" to be in motion at slow speed that to just park and wallow.

[F1guynz]

I understand one of the reasons they sail around is to make sure that algae and other foreign material don't build up on the underside of the hull as this leads to more drag making the ship less fuel efficient.

 

[ehw51]

F1guynz   Schumacher or Hamilton? Your´e right, and they need to keep on top of the salt build up. I read an interesting article on the points guy about mothballing ships. Not as easy as you would think. 

[cruisellama]

Guessing not enough pier space on company property and there has to be a daily cost of staying in a port.  Sailing keeps the machinery working and allows for continued training opportunities for the small crews on-board.