Nynäshamn, Sweden - Retracting the Seawalk from the Norwegian Breakaway (2018)

The Port of Nynäshamn has the capacity to accommodate the very largest international cruise ships. The advantages of Nynäshamn are short approach lanes and less dependency on wind and light conditions. From 2016 onwards Ports of Stockholm is able to offer a new quay solution for the cruise traffic at the Port of Nynäshamn using a pier known as a Seawalk, a retractable, maneuverable floating pier. When a cruise ship is not in port the Seawalk is retracted. When the ship approaches the port the pier is extended out towards the vessel like an extendible measuring rule, and the ship can then tie up alongside. This allows passengers and luggage to be disembarked or embarked via the Seawalk. It is also possible to drive smaller vehicles along the pier. Norwegian Breakaway is a cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. Construction of Norwegian Breakaway began on 21 September 2011, when the first piece of steel was cut at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. She was delivered to NCL on 25 April 2013. Following the handover, Norwegian Breakaway left the port of Bremerhaven, heading for Rotterdam. Following several inaugural events, she started her transatlantic cruise from Southampton to New York City, where the naming ceremony took place. On 12 May 2013 she headed to Bermuda to start her seven-day cruises. She is 146,600 GT in size, and has capacity for 3,963 passengers, double occupancy. The ship has a total of 1,024 staterooms and 238 suites, designed by Priestmangoode and Tillberg Design. Norwegian Breakaway is home ported at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan, making seven-night cruises to Bermuda (May thru Sept) and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas & Florida (October thru April). She is the largest cruise ship homeported year-round from New York City. The ship, along with her sister Norwegian Getaway, was named through a public contest; Kimberly Powell submitted the name Norwegian Breakaway, which was announced on 14 September 2011. The ship's godmothers are the New York dancing troupe The Rockettes. Onboard features include a restaurant, Ocean Blue, by Geoffrey Zakarian, and a comedy club, named Headliners, where a Second City company performs. Peter Max designed the hull art. At launch Norwegian Breakaway was the world's ninth largest cruise ship. Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the railway to Stockholm in 1901 that Nynäshamn started to develop. During the early 20th Century, Nynäshamn also became well known as a spa town, though most such facilities were closed down before the end of World War I. Main industries arrived through Telegrafverkets verkstäder (the factories of the Government owned telephone company) in 1916 and an oil refinery built in 1928-29 by Axel Ax:son Johnson & Co. The latter still remains though under different ownership and under the name Nynas. Nynäshamn was the venue of the Olympic sailing regatta in 1912.