KfW IPEX-Bank is financing a new cruise ship with the project name “Breakaway Plus” to be built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg for Norwegian Cruise Line headquartered in Miami, Florida, USA.

The ship’s contract price is approximately euro 700 million. The financing, which will be disbursed in US dollars, is covered by an export credit insurance provided by Euler Hermes and involves the favourable CIRR (Commercial Interest Reference Rate) for ships set by the OECD.

“With this large-volume financing, we are continuing the long-standing successful cooperation with our valued business partners Meyer Werft and Norwegian Cruise Line. In this way, as one of the leading ship financiers worldwide, we underscore our structuring competence in the area of cruise ships. Furthermore, we contribute to supporting the German export industry, particularly northern Germany as a shipbuilding location,” explained Christian K Murach, the Management Board member of KfW IPEX-Bank responsible for ship financing.

The Breakaway Plus ship will be larger than Norwegian’s Breakaway class ships currently under construction at Meyer Werft and will incorporate many of those vessels’ design elements. The new ship has a gross tonnage (GT) of 163,000 and space for approximately 4,200 passengers (double occupancy). The ship will meet the highest technical standards and will be built according to Norwegian’s Freestyle Cruising concept, which allows passengers a maximum amount of individuality, freedom and flexibility on board. While Norwegian Breakaway is to be commissioned in April 2013 and Norwegian Getaway in January 2014, the new “Breakaway Plus” ship will be delivered in fall 2015; an optional ship would follow in spring 2017.

Norwegian Cruise Line is the third largest cruise operator in the world with currently eleven cruise ships carrying more than 1.5 million passengers per year.

Meyer Werft is a family-owned operation in the sixth generation, building ships for over 215 years. The shipyard has a long tradition and builds the most modern cruise liners for customers from all over the world, and it is the most important employer of the Papenburg region.