Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2002)

News y | y-y TTl I IT ID Mf) ' A * CI* XT/^T planned second ship. Approximately Northrop (arumman Unloads Hair-built 1 roiect America ohip to JNLL 350 ship systems employees are cur-

The saga of the now-defunct American

Classic Voyages' U.S. Lines has seem- ingly come to a close with Northrop

Grumman Corporation reaching an agreement on August 19 to sell all struc- tures and material associated with the cruise vessel program at the company's

Ship Systems sector to Norwegian

Cruise Line.

Under the agreement, Norwegian

Cruise Line will take possession by

Sept. 30, 2002 of the nearly half-com- plete first ship and all associated equip- ment and materials, as well as material acquired by Northrop Grumman for a

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Circle 230 on Reader Service Card or visit www.maritimereporterinfo.com rently preparing the cruise ship for launching and towing. These ships were to have been known as the first cruise ships to be constructed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

The company does not expect the sale to impact previously announced finan- cial guidance. In May, the U.S. Mar- itime Administration (MarAd) conduct- ed an auction for the cruise ship and associated materials, at which time

MarAd subsequently directed Northrop

Grumman Ship Systems to proceed uni- laterally with the disposition of the ves- sel.

Malaysian-based Star Cruises Group, which is the parent company of NCL, said that that the vessel will be operated as part of the Norwegian fleet as a 2,000-guest purpose-built ship for

Freestyle Cruising. The yet-to-be- named ship will be delivered in spring of 2004 in time for the summer season.

NCL has contracted with Northrop

Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) to buy all of the materials and equipment and the work performed to date on the two

Project America vessels under construc- tion at Northrop's Ingalls shipyard in

Mississippi, that were to have been part of the now-defunct United States Lines fleet. The substantially completed hull of the first vessel, plus all of the associ- ated equipment and materials, will be transported to Europe, where work will be completed ina yet to be determined shipyard. "The acquisition of the 'Project Amer- ica' assets was prompted by the success of Freestyle Cruising, the tremendous reception we have had to Norwegian

Sun and Star, and the need to add ships as soon as possible after the delivery of

Norwegian Dawn, our last scheduled new build, in December 2002," said

Colin Veitch, president and CEO of

NCL.

The original design of the "Project

America" ship has been modified and will sail under the NCL brand as the lat- est addition to the company's revolu- tionary Freestyle Cruising fleet, which allows passengers to enjoy the benefits of no fixed meal times and no assigned seating in a relaxed atmosphere.

Eighty percent of the staterooms will have an ocean view, with 85 percent of those including private balconies — a total of five decks with private bal- conies.

Once the completion of the first vessel is under way, NCL will explore the fea- sibility of completing the second vessel based on the work in progress and mate- rials that have been purchased as part of the deal with NGSS.

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