Norwegian’s Pride
of America refloated
It's looking like smoother sailing is in the works for Norwegian Cruise Line's operation, now that Pride of America is floating again.
The vessel, which is being built to cruise the Hawaiian islands, was refloated Sunday, one month after sinking at its construction dock in Germany, said Robert Kritzman, senior vice president for NCL America, Norwegian's U.S.-flagged division.
"Now we can begin the process of evaluating the damage and determining when the ship can be completed," Kritzman said. "We weren't able to make any firm plans while it was sitting in the mud."
But it will take at least another week for the cruise line to determine how much the damage will cost and how long it will take for it to be fixed, he said.
Pride of America, the first American built ship in about 40 years, has been plagued with troubles since NCL acquired it from bankrupt American Classic Voyages in 2001. In January, the cruiseliner took on water during a storm and tilted in its berth, sending a construction crane crashing into a building, injuring three workers and casting doubt on whether it could begin interisland runs in Hawaii this summer.
Expected delays prompted the cruise line to swap the ship's schedule with another, which was to enter the local market later this year -- removing one ship from Norwegian's service fleet.
"We've been able to cover the schedule and minimize financial impacts, but obviously there is some loss of revenue with one less ship," Kritzman said.
Last week, Lloyd Werft, the German shipyard contracted to build Pride of America, filed for court protection from creditors after Norwegian delayed making a $47 million payment to the company because it could not certify progress after the storm.
However the shipbuilder is continuing to operate during its reorganization, Kritzman said, adding that workers are cleaning the ship and lubricating equipment to help minimize the impact of the any damage from saltwater.
"If she's not cleaned or preserved properly, we've been told that the damage can really start to take place now that she's out of the water," Kritzman said.
Meanwhile, the cruise line will press ahead with the planned July 4 launch of a U.S.-flagged cruise ship in Hawaii by bringing in the Pride of Aloha, currently sailing as the Norwegian Sky.
Pride of Aloha will undergo a major transformation when she enters dry dock in San Francisco in May before beginning interisland cruises in October. The company has been working on a new design for months, since it was first announced that Norwegian Sky would be reflagged into the U.S. registry and renamed Pride of Aloha to sail in Hawaii.
After the dry dock work and a series of Pacific Coast cruises, Pride of Aloha will take over Pride of America's published program of seven-day cruises.
