MS Maasdam

MS Maasdam is a Holland America cruise ship named after the Maas River in the Netherlands.

History

She was ordered along with her sisters MS Statendam and MS Ryndam in 1989 from Fincantieri Shipyards. During design of her class there was concern over her ability to meet the strict new SOLAS 90 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea stability requirements which go into effect in 2010. Her sister, MS Statendam proved to meet these requirements beyond expectations and the additional ballast tanks fitted to the class to provide added stability usually travel void for weight reduction and hence, fuel savings. Her hull design is based largely on that of MS Costa Classica with changes to make it more buoyant as the superstructure of Maasdam and her sisters is much heavier than that of Costa Classica. Maasdam and her sisters have articulated "Hinze" flap rudders, basically a rudder with a small portion of its aft that can be steered in addition to the main rudder, for exceptional maneuverability. When launched her class proved to be one of the world's most technically advanced and optimised cruise ships in the world during sea trials.

Maasdam

Maasdam is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 14 km south of the city of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Binnenmaas, on the rural Hoekse Waard island.

From the 14th Century until around 1800, Maasdam was also the name of the local administrative area, the fief and later the "ambacht".

Subsequently from 1 January 1812 until 1 January 1984, it became the name of the local municipality, which comprised the village of Maasdam and the surrounding polders. In the periods 1812 - 1817 and 1832 - 1984, the hamlet of Cillaarshoek and the hamlet and polder of Sint Anthoniepolder were also part of the municipality of Maasdam.

The municipality of Maasdam was eventually merged with some surrounding municipalities to become part of the new municipality of Binnenmaas. The exception was Cillaarshoek which was split and partly merged into the existing municipality of Strijen.

History

Maasdam was founded in the 13th Century in an area which at the time was part of the County of Holland, a state within the Holy Roman Empire.

Maasdam cheese

Maasdam cheese (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmaːsdɑm]) is a Swiss-style Dutch cheese. Made from cow's milk, it is aged for at least 4 weeks. It ripens faster than other Dutch cheeses. Maasdam has internal holes from the ripening process, and a smooth, yellow rind. Sometimes, it is waxed like Gouda. The cheese was created to compete with the popular Swiss Emmental by being less expensive and quicker to produce. In the process of making a cheese with the same general components as Swiss cheeses, the Dutch ended up with a cheese that is nutty and sweet, but softer than Emmental due to a higher moisture content.

The style was introduced in 1984 by the Baars company as the trademarked Leerdammer cheese, though it is now made by other Dutch companies under the name Maasdamer.

See also

Reference

Maasdam (disambiguation)

Maasdam is a village and former administrative land division in the Netherlands.

Maasdam may also refer to:

Ships