Gem keel laid

In the covered building dock of Meyer Werft in Papenburg, the first of a total of 67 steel blocks of the new 93,500 gt cruise vessel for Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) was put into place on the keel blocks. The first block weighs more than 350 tons, is 20 metres long, 27 metres wide and about 9 metres high.

?Norwegian Gem? is the seventh ship which is built by Meyer Werft for NCL and is slated for delivery in autumn 2007. With a length of 294.13 metres and a breadth of 32.20 metres, the newbuilding will be one of the world?s biggest Panamax-cruise ship with accommodation for 2,384 passengers and a speed of more than 25 knots.