Westerdam cruise ship joins armada in the bay
Written by Jay Richards on 24/09/2020
Today sees another spectacular Cruise ship enter the Bay of Torbay. The ‘Westerdam’, a ‘Vista-class’ cruise ship owned by the ‘Holland America Line’, sailed silently into the Bay during the early hours of this morning. In February this year, the cruise ship, departing after a stop in Hong Kong on 1st February, was denied to call in the Philippines over concerns regarding Coronavirus.
Torbay has seen numerous cruise ships anchor in the Bay during the Pandemic. The ‘Westerdam’, now joins the P & O Ventura and Azura as well as Cunard’s Luxury Transatlantic Ocean-liner, ‘The Queen Mary 2’, the fleets flagship vessel. The armada of ships are currently anchored off the Babbacombe coastline in Torquay. ‘Westerdam’ was christened on 25th April 2004 in Venice, Italy by Dutch actress Renée Soutendijk. and is equipped with a ‘CODAG’ power plant and an ‘Azipod propulsion system’. 
The theme of her art collection is Dutch heritage in the New World with Paintings of historic Dutch ships, such as Henry Hudson’s ‘Halve Maen’ (Half Moon), and various sculptures and statues are displayed throughout the ship.
The ship was launched on 16th July 2003 and Christened in April 2004. She has a gross tonnage of 81,811GT, a length of 936 ft (285.3 m), a beam of 105.8 ft (32.2 m) and 11 decks. ‘Westerdam’ has a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) with a cruising speed of 22 knots (41km/h; 25 mph), she holds 1,964 passengers and a compliment or 800 crew.
