Norwegian Breakaway

Norwegian Breakaway is a cruise ship of Norwegian Cruise Line. It, along with Norwegian Getaway, are the first two ships in "Project Breakaway" ordered by Norwegian Cruise Line. They were named through a public contest; A contestant submitted the name Norwegian Breakaway, which was announced on 14 September 2011.

Norwegian Breakaway at St. Petersburg, Russia.
History
Name: Norwegian Breakaway
Owner: Norwegian Cruise Line
Port of registry:  Bahamas, Nassau[1]
Ordered: 17 August 2011
Builder: Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany
Yard number: S678
Laid down: 21 September 2011
Launched: 30 April 2013
Christened: 8 May 2013
Maiden voyage: 30 April 2013
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Type: Breakaway-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 145,655 GT[1]
Length: 325.64 m (1,068.4 ft)[1]
Beam:

39.7 m (130.2 ft) - At Waterline[1]

51.7 m (169.7 ft) - Maximum[2]
Draft: 8.6 m (28 ft)[1]
Decks: 18
Installed power:
  • 2 × MAN 14V48/60CR (2 × 16,800 kW)
  • 2 × MAN 12V48/60CR (2 × 14,400 kW)
Propulsion: Two ABB XO Azipods (2 × 17.5 MW) Three Brunvoll bow thrusters (3 × 3 MW)
Speed: 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Capacity: 3,963[2]
Crew: 1,657[2]

History
Norwegian Breakaway at Lakhta Center in 2018 July.

The ship, along with her sister Norwegian Getaway, were the first two ships in "Project Breakaway" ordered by Norwegian Cruise Line.[3] The two ships were named through a public contest; Kimberly Powell submitted the name Norwegian Breakaway, which was announced on 14 September 2011.[4]

Construction of Norwegian Breakaway began on 21 September 2011, when the first piece of steel was cut at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.[5] The ship's godmothers are the New York dancing troupe The Rockettes.[6] She was delivered to NCL on 25 April 2013. Following the handover, Norwegian Breakaway left the port of Bremerhaven, heading for Rotterdam. Following several inaugural events, she started her transatlantic cruise from Southampton to New York City, where the naming ceremony took place.[7] On 12 May 2013 she headed to Bermuda to start her seven-day cruises.[8]

Norwegian Breakaway was home ported at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan, making seven-night cruises to Bermuda (May thru Sept) and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas and Florida (October thru April).[9] She is the largest cruise ship homeported year-round from New York City.[10] Beginning in late 2018, Breakaway will leave New York, traveling to New Orleans, followed by Miami in early 2019, before sailing out of the Orlando-area port, Port Canaveral, in November 2019.[11]

Design

She is 146,600 GT in size, and has capacity for 3,963 passengers, double occupancy.[5] At launch, Norwegian Breakaway was the world's ninth largest cruise ship by gross tonnage. The ship has a total of 1,024 staterooms and 238 suites.[12]

Onboard features include a restaurant, Ocean Blue, by Geoffrey Zakarian, and a comedy club, in which a Second City company performs. Peter Max designed the hull art.[13]

Incidents

On 17 September 2013, a woman fell two decks from her exterior balcony prior to arriving in Bermuda.[14] On 3 February 2014, a 4-year-old fell into the pool and drowned, while a 6-year-old was revived and evacuated by Marine helicopter to a hospital.[15] On 28 July 2014, a 4-year-old boy fell off his bunk and had to be evacuated by a Marine helicopter to a hospital after sustaining a head injury.[16] On 20 July 2016, one crewmember was killed and three were injured by an accident during a rescue boat drill.[17]

2018 blizzard

On 4 January 2018, the Breakaway traveled northbound (passing the Norwegian Gem) through the January 2018 North American blizzard, causing major flooding in passenger staterooms.[18] Some rooms were so badly flooded that some passengers resorted to sleeping in the public spaces. Footage of the ordeal showed the sides of the ship being hit by waves as high as 30 feet (9.1 m), and the ship was at an inclination with the shape of the waves. Some guests had suffered seasickness at that point. While Norwegian Cruise Line released a formal apology, the incident had sparked outrage that some guests were traumatized to the point of refusing to cruise again, while some either threatened a class action lawsuit or demanded full compensation. The ship’s late arrival cut the following 14-day cruise short by one day.[18][19][20]

Coronavirus pandemic
See also: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships

On 19 March 2020, it was reported that Norwegian Cruise Line had sent a letter on 18 March 2020 to passengers of the cruise that began on 7 March 2020 and ended on 14 March 2020 that someone who had been on the same cruise had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.[21] After showing symptoms, a passenger had checked into a hospital at Ocho Rios, Jamaica during a scheduled stop and was eventually medically evacuated to Broward Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she tested positive.[21][22][23][24] Thus passenger died on 9 April 2020 in isolation at the hospital, after being on a ventilator for nearly 30 days.[25] Many other passengers started showing symptoms but had difficulty getting tested.[21][22]

Passengers were wondering why the company took so long to inform passengers of the initial positive test, as they had started learning about the result through local news sources and social media instead.[21][23] Passengers complained that, had they been informed earlier of the test, they could have taken precautions to avoid spreading the virus any further.[21][26] It was also reported that the disembarkation process was "surprisingly routine", with one former passenger stating that there was "[n]o temperature check, no screenings, no questions asked, nothing", and that he "just walked away from the ship, got on a shuttle and left".[26]

On 24 March 2020, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that two former passengers from Westmoreland County had tested positive.[22] At the time, there were 11 confirmed cases in the county.[22]

  • Kids swimming area
  • Swimming area
  • Norwegian Breakaway at Port Canaveral

References
  1. "Norwegian Breakaway (31388)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  2. "Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Ship". Norwegian Cruise Line. NCL Corporation Ltd. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  3. "Project Breakaway Ships". ship-technology.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. "Norwegian Decides Winning Names for Its Two New Freestyle Cruising Ships". Shipbuilding Tribune. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  5. "Norwegian Cruise Line marks steel-cutting for new Breakaway ship". USA Today. 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  6. "New York Icons The Rockettes® Named Godmothers of Norwegian Breakaway". NCL. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. "Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday". Newsday. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. "Meyer Werft: Cruise Ship 'Norwegian Breakaway' Delivered". Offshore Energy. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  9. "New York City to Become Home Port for NCL's New Passenger Ship Norwegian Breakaway". Shipbuilding Tribune. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  10. "Norwegian Breakaway to Begin Sailing in May 2013". Cruise Fever. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  11. Tribou, Richard. "Norwegian Breakaway to call Port Canaveral home in 2019". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  12. "Norwegian Cruise Line Unveils Design for Project Breakaway". Shipbuilding Tribune. 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  13. "5 Years Ago, Peter Max Transformed a Cruise Ship Into a Work of Art". Park West Gallery. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  14. "Passenger fall means early stop for ship", Bermuda Sun 20 September 2013
  15. Bacon, John (4 February 2014). "4-year-old boy dies aboard cruise ship". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  16. "Coast Guard medevacs child from cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway 100 miles southeast of Atlantic City | Coast Guard News". coastguardnews.com.
  17. Bureau, INQUIRER net US. "Filipino dies in cruise ship safety drill accident in Bermuda". globalnation.inquirer.net.
  18. ""It was hell for me": Woman recalls cruise ship ride during "bomb cyclone"". www.cbsnews.com.
  19. "Norwegian Cruise Sailed Through Thick Of Winter Storm « CBS New York". Newyork.cbslocal.com. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  20. "Norwegian Cruise Line passengers on ship that sailed through 'bomb cyclone' describe 'nightmare' ride". Fox News. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  21. Dange, Sanika (19 March 2020). "'Infuriating': Cruise line tells passengers about positive COVID-19 case on ship days after trip ends". WESH.
  22. "A cough, a cruise ship and a Westmoreland County case of coronavirus". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  23. davem@herald-mail.ocm, Dave McMillion. "West Virginia woman who was on cruise with coronavirus patient criticizes handling of situation". Herald-Mail Media.
  24. "NCL Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Itinerary 2019, 2020, 2021 and Sailings | Crew Center". crew-center.com.
  25. "Cruise Ships Set Sail Knowing the Deadly Risk to Passengers and Crew". Wall Street Journal. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  26. "Cruise passenger returns to Florida home but fears he may be carrying coronavirus". FOX 35 Orlando. 19 March 2020.
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