First Block for S.669

Papenburg, 04.10.2005 - In the covered building dock of MEYER WERFT in Papenburg, one of a total of 67 steel blocks of the new 93,000-gt cruise vessel "S.669" was put into place on the keel blocks yesterday. Inside the dock, following an old tradition, Bill Hamlin, Executive Vice President, Fleet Operations for Norwegian Cruise Line, laid the traditional "lucky penny", before the block was put down by the yard´s 800-ton crane. The first block weighs more than 350 tons, is 20 m long, 27 m wide and about 9 m high.

S.669 is the third of four new ships which are being built for the cruise company Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). It is supposed to be delivered in spring 2007. This new panmax vessel is significantly faster than other ships of this size and accommodates the highest number of passengers in her class.

The ships length overall will be 294.13 m, the breadth 32.2 m. The ship will be able to reach a speed of more than 25 knots. 2,384 passengers will be accommodated in 1,188 cabins and will be taken care of by a crew of over 1,000.