Zuiderdam makes first Saipan port call

Holland America Line’s M/S Zuiderdam, a mid-size cruise ship that is bringing over 1,000 passengers around the world in a span of 128 days, made its first port call on Saipan yesterday.

Despite the bad weather that made traveling through the challenging Saipan channel more difficult than it already is, the M/S Zuiderdam managed to bring about 1,200 guests and 790 crew members to Saipan for just a daylong visit. They left yesterday in the afternoon.

The Saipan channel is notorious for being difficult to maneuver due to how narrow it is, but Capt. Frank Van Der Hoeven, who has been the ship’s captain for over 20 years, said he and his team have already practiced how to do it via simulations.

While it was the M/S Zuiderdam’s first stopover on Saipan, Van Der Hoeven said he felt like he knew by heart how to maneuver through Saipan’s channel yesterday morning due to the numerous simulation training he and his team went through in preparation for the port call.

“This is [our] first time coming to Saipan but I felt like I’ve been here before. We had very limited data from past arrivals from other corporate vessels [that have been to Saipan] and with the expected strong winds, I was not certain if a ship of this size would make it. So, we engaged with our training center in The Netherlands to create a simulation of the Saipan channel. We worked with Sea Smart to create a scenario for our Saipan arrival and departure. We trialed first without current and without wind, then we stepped it up each time with more wind and more current, getting more difficult each time to make sure we could navigate the channel. That created for us a better picture of what to expect once we were committed to travel through the channel,” he said.

Despite all that preparation, though, sailing through the Saipan channel still made his heart race, Van Der Hoeven said, but he was adamant about making it to Saipan as he wanted his crew and his guests to experience the island even for just a day.

He hopes this will be the first of many future port calls. “We put in all this effort to prepare for our port call [on] Saipan because I did not want to cancel. …We really wanted to come. No captain wants to cancel a port call unless he or she is absolutely confident it is too risky in terms of safety. In this particular case, I was pretty confident that I could have up to 35 knots of wind and still make it through the Saipan channel to allow our guest and crew to experience the island of Saipan,” he said.

The vessel left Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 3, and is expected to arrive at Fort Lauderdale on May 11, completing a cruise around the world in 128 days.

After departing from the Saipan port at around 5pm yesterday, the vessel is expected to be out at sea for three days before arriving at Ishigaki, Japan. From there, the Zuiderdam will visit other ports in Japan, including Naha, Tokyo, Kobe, Fukuoka, and more before heading to China and Hong Kong.

“However, instead of going through the Red Sea, because of the political tension, we had to change out itinerary three weeks ago and instead we will be going through Cape Hope in South Africa. Then we will follow the South African coast, making port calls before heading back to Fort Lauderdale,” said Van Der Hoeven.

Commonwealth Ports Authority chair Joe Ayuyu said in a statement he is happy that the M/S Zuiderdam was able to visit Saipan as its visit means good things for the CNMI’s economy.

“This visit is a big thing for us because it brought in nearly 2,000 people. This is a boost to our economy because a lot of these tourists get off board and explore the island. The impression I got from some of the tourists is that [Saipan] is a beautiful destination,” he said.