Massive German-built cruise ship 'Norwegian Joy' leaves port

German-built luxury cruise liner "Norwegian Joy" was due for its maiden voyage on Sunday night. The Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship is the first in its fleet purpose-built for the Chinese tourism market. The 4,200-passenger boat will be based out of Shanghai and Tianjin and will have Mandarin as its official language. The 326-meter (1,069-foot) cruise ship was built by major German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. It was due to sail from Papenburg, up the river Ems into the North Sea on Sunday night at 8.30 p.m. local time (19.30 UTC) By Monday night the luxury liner will be moored in the Dutch city of Eemshaven. "Norwegian Joy" is the twelfth ship that the Meyer shipyard has built for NCL with two more scheduled for delivery in spring 2018 and autumn 2019. NCL is a Bermudian company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.