Natural stone & ceramics on river cruise ships
River cruises are very popular with Australians and Americans, among others, and they are great for visiting many European countries in a short time. At night you can sleep in luxury while sailing on, and during the day you can visit the various countries and cities. It is certainly not a cheap way to travel and that is what most shipping companies furnish the ships with; many luxury items finished with exclusive materials and therefore a lot of natural stone or ceramics.
Ariës Natuursteen is the specialist in the field of these types of luxury finishes on [rivier]cruise ships, the company from Zevenaar is therefore a well-known name in this particular world. For cruise ships in the exclusive segment, natural stone almost always plays a role, and there are not many natural stone companies that can handle such a job in terms of capacity and scale. Ariës Natuursteen is one of those few companies that can. In the past fifteen years, Ariës Natuursteen has therefore “contributed” to at least more than sixty ships.
As a natural stone company, they also provide advice, of course, but that is mostly technical in nature. Then it is mainly about the properties of materials, functionality and durability. However, in a cruise ship design, aesthetics can often take precedence over the most suitable material and marble is chosen in the bathrooms, for example, this is basically not the most practical material in a bathroom.
Preliminary work and craftsmanship
The completion of a ship cannot be compared to the completion of a property on land. The schedule is a lot tighter, the deadline harder and the pace is often faster. For Ariës, this means tailoring as much as possible beforehand. And because it involves very precise customization, it can be quite exciting. Everything is first measured exactly, then everything is custom-made in Zevenaar and transported to the yard for installation. They use a flexible polymer glue to mount e.g. the buffet tops, since then something can always be shifted. To that end, a few millimeters of clearance is always maintained when measuring. In the end, you won’t see any of that because all the seams are then sealed with a flexible sealant.
Most countertops are made entirely to size by Ariës Natuursteen using molds. You can’t measure those kinds of parts because of e.g. columns and pillars that are often all over the place, and with molds you can save these obstacles. The CNC machine can read those molds very precisely and precisely cut and mill the stone to size. For example, stair treads are also custom made in Zevenaar. Placing this is certainly a speciality, you need a folding rule and a carpenter’s eye, because you can’t do anything on a ship with a spirit level. In all, about 20 tons of natural stone can be incorporated into some river cruise ships. It may sound illogical, such a huge weight aboard a ship, but even additional ballast has to be pumped in later. Only then is the cruise ship ready for sailing and all the luxuries can be enjoyed.
Click here to proceed to the article on the Aries Natural Stone website
View the projects of Ariës Natuursteen here
