Norwegian Breakaway, the largest cruise ship to ever be built in Germany, departed Meyer Werft in Papenburg, for her approximately 24-hour long conveyance along the Ems River yesterday morning and arrived in Eemshaven early today.

The river conveyance demonstrated Norwegian Breakaway’s seaworthiness and marked another key milestone prior to the ship’s highly anticipated delivery.

Sailing backwards, Norwegian Breakaway left Meyer Werft at approximately 10:00 (local time in Germany), and made a narrow passage through the ship yard’s locks, with only 1.6 metres clearance separating the ship from the “bumpers” that were specially installed along the starboard side of the locks.

This manoeuvre took approximately 1.5 hours at a maximum speed of only 0.2 knots.

The precise navigation was led by a team of two located on the bridge, with one navigation officer in charge of overseeing the bow manoeuvres and the other overseeing the movement of the stern. After passing through the locks, Norwegian Breakaway continued along the river, stern first.

Due to the strong propulsion in the aft section of the vessel, travelling stern first helps with manoeuvrability which is a key component when navigating the vessel through such narrow passages.

In preparation for the ship’s conveyance, the Nautical Operations teams from both MEYER WERFT and

Norwegian trained and practiced the precise manoeuvres for the past several months, utilising high tech simulators and detailed schematics.

Norwegian Breakaway presented the most challenging conveyance ever, as the ship required precise manoeuvres in order to navigate through extremely narrow passages, with less than two metres clearance on either side of the vessel.

Before reaching her final destination in Eemshaven, Netherlands early Thursday morning, heading toward the North Sea, Norwegian Breakaway passed through additional narrow passages including the locks in Papenburg, which allow only 1.5 metre clearance on either side; Weener Bridge in Weener; Jann-Berghaus Bridge in Leer; and Ems-Barrier in Gandersum.