Concept and construction
Norwegian Epic is powered by a diesel-electric plant, with the six long-stroke MaK engines providing a total of 79.8 MW for ship propulsion and on-board electricity supply.[13] Electrical power then drives high-torque density induction motors which turn two conventional (non-azimuthing) propellers.[14]
The F3-class ship was built by STX Europe at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The last ship delivered to NCL before this order that was not at least partially built at a German shipyard was the Windward of 1993. Prior, NCL's new ships had been built at the German Meyer Werft, Lloyd Werft, Bremer Vulkan and Aker MTW shipyards.
In September 2008, a dispute over the price of the first F3 vessel (at the time approximately 25% complete) arose between Norwegian Cruise Line and STX France. Reportedly, the sale of 50% of NCL to Apollo Management in August 2007 resulted in Apollo making several changes to the designs, resulting in a higher cost for the first vessel. One of the changes included the addition of three decks atop her superstructure as a homage to the Norway, which was sold for scrap the year before, despite the decks being criticized for making the vessel appear top-heavy. A dispute between NCL and STX initially resulted in the construction of both ships being placed on hold until a new agreement was reached. It was reported that the construction of the second ship was unaffected by the dispute, but ultimately it was decided that the first ship would be completed and the construction of the second ship was canceled.[5][15][16] Despite this agreement, there has not been another ship built at STX France, with all future ships having been ordered from German Mayer Werft due to strained relations with STX.
The sea trials of Norwegian Epic occurred over four days beginning on 10 February 2010. During these trials 300 technicians and engineers from STX France, along with 30 Norwegian Cruise Line representatives, checked more than 60 aspects of the ship's performance by running trials of the ship's speed, maneuverability, hydrodynamics and propulsion in the Atlantic Ocean.[17]
In early May 2010, a fire broke out in a provisioning area aft on Deck 4; firefighters were able to contain the fire before it spread, with the only damage to an area of cabling.[18][19] The conditions were found to be suspicious (there was no welding or other 'hot' work in the area, and the extinguishing system was non-operational), and the event was investigated by Saint-Nazaire police as arson. It was suspected some workers may have deliberately set the fire in an act of payback for the price dispute between NCL and STX France. Despite the damage, Norwegian Epic was delivered on time.[19]
A second round of sea trials was conducted on 11 June 2010, which finalized all the aspects of the ship.[17] Afterwards, the ship, named the Norwegian Epic, was delivered to NCL on 17 June 2010.[6]
