Damen Shiprepair Brest (DSBr) recently completed the refurbishment of NCL’s ‘Norwegain Breakaway’.
The 326 m, 146,000 gt, cruise ship arrived in Brest on 28th April for 11 days of scheduled maintenance and refurbishment.
The primary objective of the docking was to work on the ship’s two ABB azipods. The DSBr team worked alongside ABB service engineers on both azipods to repair the shaft bearings and replace the slewing seals.
This required the removal of both propellers and took place in close co-ordination with the other teams working on the vessel to ensure that no dust and other contaminants entered the complex systems within the azipods.
At the same time, DSBr technicians worked with Brunvoll personnel to undertake maintenance of the vessel’s three bow thrusters, as well as dismantling, maintaining and then refitting the two Fincantieri stabilisers. The hull was also repainted, which involved the usual coatings, plus the decorative artwork on the vessel’s forward topsides.
While the ‘Norwegian Breakaway’ was in DSBr’s 420 m long, No 3 drydock, large quantities of carpets inside the cruise ship were removed and replaced by a specialist contractor as part of a rolling programme.
DSBr managed the 24/7 logistical flow, ensuring that old carpets were removed on time and the new rolls were available for fitting. In addition to the scheduled work, the yard also ensured that the client’s sub-contractors received full support and handled a wide range of unforeseen requests ranging from the provision of materials and tools to the erection of interior scaffolding.
Laurent Salou, DSBr Project Manager, commented: “I truly believe that all the personnel at Damen Shiprepair Brest really appreciated the opportunity to work on ‘Norwegian Breakaway’ as the collaboration with the ship’s staff was more than excellent during the entire drydocking period. I’m personally really proud of the work, which has been achieved by my colleagues, and honoured to have worked on such a notable project.
“The client chose us for this project not only because we are capable of handling a ship of this size, but also because we are close to the major cruise terminal at Southampton, which was its last port of call. They were also very satisfied with the work that we performed on the ‘Norwegian Epic’ in 2015 and I am pleased to be able to report that the client was very happy with performance of the DSBr workers and the yard on this project as well.”
‘Norwegian Breakaway’ left Damen Shiprepair Brest on 8th May at noon, six hours ahead of schedule.
