First Blocks in Place in MEYER WERFT's Building Dock

Papenburg, 04.06.2004 - In the covered building dock of MEYER WERFT shipyard in Papenburg, one of a total of 67 steel blocks of the new 93,000 GT cruise vessel was lifted into place today. Inside the dock Nils Nordh, Executive Vice President Cor-porate Newbuilding of Norwegian Cruise Line/Star Cruises laid the traditional "lucky cent" before the block was lowered down onto the keel blocks by the yard´s 800-ton crane. The ceremony took place in presence of Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Chairman and CEO of Star Cruises Group and Colin Veitch, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line. The block, which was lifted into the dock, weighs nearly 230 tons, is 20 meters long, 30 meters wide and about 8 meters high. It is the first vessel for Norwegian Cruise Line in a series of two to be built by MEYER WERFT. These ships are further developments of the Norwegian Dawn which the shipyard built for NCL in 2002. The new ships are to be delivered to the Owners in the summer 2005 and in the spring 2006. The ship will have a length overall of 294.13 meters and a breadth of 32.2 meters. It will develop a speed of more than 25 knots and will be capable of accommodating 2,376 passengers in 1188 cabins who are taken care of by about 1,000 crew members. Five MAN B&W diesel engines will generate an output of 72,000 kW (=100,000 hp). Propulsion will be provided by two 20 MW azipods. The podded drive ensures very low noise and vibration levels as well as excellent manoeuvring capabilities. The new ships will feature plenty of exclusive interior hallmarks. Most of all, with this ship Norwegian Cruise Line is going to continue their concept of "Freestyle Cruising" which includes e.g. an unparalleled event gastronomy with a variety of bars and restaurants on board.