Successful First Sea Trials For Norwegian Epic
Powered by Converteam, the Norwegian Epic cruise ship successfully achieved its first series of sea trials in the Atlantic Ocean from 12 to 14 February 2010. As a world premiere, Norwegian Epic implements a first innovative high power propulsion system with induction motors fed by PWM converters. The vessel is powered by two 24MW slow-speed induction motors.
During the first sea trials, the system demonstrated excellent performance in terms of power, propulsion efficiency, speed and low noise & vibration level. STX Europe and Norwegian Cruise Line are very satisfied with these results.
Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line‘s largest and most innovative ship to date, returned from her first successful sea trials on Sunday, February 14, 2010, after four days of sailing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. During the sea trials, 300 technicians and engineers from STX France SA, along with 30 Norwegian Cruise Line representatives, checked more than sixty different aspects of the ship’s performance by running trials of the vessel’s speed, manoeuvrability, hydrodynamics and propulsion, amongst others.
“During her first time ever at sea, Norwegian Epic performed above expectations with excellent marine behaviour,” said Roberto Martinoli, Norwegian’s president and COO, who was on-board during the sea trials. “All tests were conducted with positive results. She is a beautiful ship with outstanding performance. Now that sea trials are completed, we can concentrate on finishing the ship and showing her to the world in June.”
A second round of sea trials is scheduled for mid-April in order to finalize all tests, including final speed measurement. The 153,000GT, 4,200-passenger ship – the largest ship ever built in Saint-Nazaire – is scheduled for delivery on June 15, 2010. Following her seven-day transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York on June 24, 2010 and inaugural activities in New York and Miami, Norwegian Epic will sail alternating seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries from Miami from July 10, 2010 through April 30, 2011. The 2011 cruise season from May-October will have Norwegian Epic sailing a series of seven-day Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona. When she returns to Miami on November 5, 2011, she will sail a series of seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruises through April 7, 2012.