WATCH: Norwegian Escape River Ems Conveyance in HD

The 164,600 gross ton Norwegian Escape on Saturday completed its River Ems conveyance from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany to the North Sea.

The conveyance is a unique process that every ship constructed at Meyer Werft must take at one point or another due to the shipyard’s inland location, away from North Sea storms. The 20-mile (32 km) trip down the River Ems can take anywhere from 10 to 24 hours depending on conditions, and cruise ships are maneuvered stern first in order to fit through the shipyard’s locks and past four car and railway bridges with only a few meters to spare.

Norwegian Cruise Line said the Norwegian Escape reached the Dutch port of Eemshaven on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. almost 24 hours after leaving the shipyard. NCL said that making it through the shipyard locks took 2 hours alone and the ship squeezed through with just 1.2 meters to spare.

At 325.9 meters long by 41.4 meters wide and 164,600 gross tons, the Norwegian Escape will be the largest ship in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet and will sail weekly seven-day cruises from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean beginning on November 14, 2015.

The vessel is the first of four new Breakaway Plus class ships NCL has on order at Meyer Werft.

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