A further luxury liner for Norwegian Cruise Line under construction

Papenburg, 1st September 2001 ‒ The first of 67 blocks of the new 92,000 GT cruise vessel, Norwegian Dawn, was today lifted into place in the new covered building dock of the MEYER WERFT Shipyard of Papenburg/Germany. Datuk Lim Chee Wah, the cruise line's representative, laid the traditional "lucky penny" before the block was lowered down onto the keel blocks by the yard´s 800-ton crane. The block weighs nearly 500 tons, is 20 meters long, 32.2 meters wide and about 8 meters high. The keel-laying ceremony was attended by further representatives of the cruise line, the bankers, the shipyard, travel agencies, the classification society and the international press. Norwegian Dawn is the second vessel for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). 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 carrying 2240 passengers in 1120 cabins and about 1000 crew members. The vessel´s energy (58,800 kW) will be generated by a diesel-electric system. The ship will be driven by two 20 MW azipods. The podded drive ensures very low noise and vibration levels as well as excellent manoeuvring capabilities. Norwegian Dawn will provide a variety of exclusive features. One of the most exciting aspects is the Freestyle Cruising concept which is known from Norwegian Star and will be continued onboard this new vessel. Freestyle Dining offers passengers a wide choice of dining options including Italian, Chinese, Spanish, French, Californian and Japanese cuisine and allows guests to eat whenever and wherever they wish.