|
Presidential Approval Clears Way For Norwegian
Cruise Line To Offer New Inter-Island Hawaii Cruise Service
New service will create first U.S.-
flag cruise ship in nearly 50 years and revive Project America
Miami, February 24, 2003 -Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) will
revive Project America as a U.S. flagged and U.S. manned operation
for inter-island Hawaii cruise service with President Bush's
approval Friday of the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal
Year 2003. The Act contains a cruise ship provision championed
by Senator Daniel K. Inouye that will create thousands of
jobs for U.S. and Hawaii residents and provide a significant
boost to the Hawaii economy.
This measure will allow NCL to use the Project America vessels
and one existing cruise ship to serve the Hawaii Islands with
inter-island cruise service. The vessels will be U.S.-flagged,
and 100 percent U.S. crewed, generating more than $800 million
in economic benefits for Hawaii and the U.S., and 20,000 jobs
including 10,000 plus jobs for Hawaii residents of which some
will be 3,000 U.S. seafaring jobs, according to a recent PriceWaterhouse
Coopers report.
"This is an exciting and innovative new product for
NCL and we look forward to providing high-quality U.S.-flag
cruise service in the Hawaii islands," said Colin Veitch,
NCL's president and CEO. "We applaud Senator Daniel Inouye
and Representative Neil Abercrombie for their support for
the legislation, which will create thousands of American jobs
and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits to
Hawaii and the United States."
NCL recently reached an agreement with Lloyd Werft of Bremerhaven,
Germany, to complete work on the first ship. The design of
the vessel has been modified for Freestyle Cruising as well
as to upgrade its original safety and environmental specification.
After a series of cruises and introductory activities on her
way from the shipyard to her homeport of Honolulu, the new
ship will begin offering regular service in Hawaii by early
summer 2004.
In August 2002, NCL purchased from Northrop Grumman Ship
Systems (NGSS) the partially completed hull of the first Project
America ship plus all the materials and equipment and the
work performed to date on both Project America vessels under
construction at NGSS's Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. The
hull and the associated equipment and materials were towed
to Europe under Lloyd's Werft's supervision in November last
year.
"Friday's approval of Senator Inouye's Hawaii cruise
ship initiative is a great opportunity for us to achieve three
goals in one," Veitch said. "1) We are able to expand
our Hawaii operations, offering cruise customers an ever broader
array of options; 2) we remain on track with our goal of adding
one new ship per year since 2000; and 3) most satisfying of
all, we will have the honor of being the first company in
nearly 50 years to hoist the Stars and Stripes above a new
ocean-going passenger ship.
"The Project America ship will be a great addition to
our fleet and another outstanding example of our innovative
Freestyle Cruising concept, with open-seating main dining
rooms, multiple dining choices (nine restaurants), over 700
private balcony staterooms, state-of-the-art entertainment
venues, three pools, extensive children's facilities and an
abundance of spacious public rooms."
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line is an international cruise
company and industry innovator that operates a fleet of nine
ships sailing to more than 140 ports around the world. For
further information on NCL, contact a travel agent or NCL
in the US and Canada at (800) 327-7030; in Miami-Dade County,
Florida, (305) 436-0866. To download high resolution photography
visit www.ncl.com/hires.
#
# #
Return
to News Index
|
