Norwegian Sky - a very quick shoot
Alright! This time it's a very crazy quick trip to be able to see the Norwegian Sky ... why? Well let me explain.
Normally the Norwegian Sky would not be on my radar for a photoshoot but lately all the classic ships have been taken out of service and mostly scrapped, so these days my interests are shifting towards other ships like interesting ferries, lighthouses I haven't visited before and more stuff you can find on the website, but sometimes I do like a good old ship chase and there are still a few ships around that deserve some attention, this being one of them now. The Norwegian Sky was ordered by Costa to become the Costa Olympia, sister to Costa Victoria, by now this ship has already been scrapped! The German shipyard Bremer Vulkan ran into financial problems and the Costa Olympia was only 35% finished when word was halten and she was laid up, Costa didn't want her anymore and NCL took her over, finishing her as the Norwegian Sky at the Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven instead. Being built in Germany before all the trouble in the European shipbuilding world, this ship is pretty unique and since this is her last season with NCL, so I decided it was a good opportunity to photograph her.
Now ... why crazy? Well it was Wednesday, August 19th and I didn't work today but had some other small things to do, Onno and Vadym and myself decided we would go see her in IJmuiden ... but ... August 20th I worked from 16.30 to 20.30 at Brussels Airport Cargo ... no problem so far, the next day, August 21st I worked 05.45 to 14.00 at Antwerp Airport and the next day, August 22nd I worked 04.45 to 14.45 at Antwerp Airport ... so when would I sleep again? Well this was the schedule for the day on August 21st: I woke up early at 04.00 after only 5 hours of sleep, went to work where I finished at 14.00, drove an hour to Eindhoven to pick up Onno and Vadym from Onnozone as usual. We went to IJmuiden, another 2 hours almost to drive, then waited for the Norwegian Sky to leave (I got a distant view of the King Seaways that had just left IJmuiden), there was too much wind for me to fly the drone but the light was just perfect for this shoot so I didn't mind. After the shoot we went back to Eindhoven where I dropped off Onno and Vadym, I drove yet another hour with just one short stop at a local McDonalds for a quick meal (and I will never do it again!) before I got home for some 3 hours of sleep before heading back to work.
Photos taken during the waiting and when the ship finally left
Some details about the ship as completed:
Building started in 1996
Completed in 1999
Originally named Costa Olympia but changed to Norwegian Sky
Sailed as Pride of Aloha from 2004 to 2008 before changing back to Norwegian Sky
She is a Sun-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 77104 GT
Length: 258.5 m
Speed: 23 knots
Decks: 13
Capacity: 2004 passengers
Crew: 899
Future: Apparently she will be chartered to Cordelia cruises to become the Cordelia Sky, let's just wait and see what will happen.
Me waiting for Onno and Vadym to get back from their viewpoint
Comments