Since its first, and rough, voyage across the Atlantic in February 1962 as the France, it has had several owners, it has been out of service a number of times and maintenance problems have popped up from time to time.
The explosion occurred Sunday as it was docked at Miami. Five crewmen were killed and two remained in critical condition. None of those killed or injured were passengers.
Local authorities said it was an accident, and there was no evidence of any sabotage by terrorists or anybody else.
Carol Carmody of the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that a team of nine had begun an onsite investigation that would last two weeks.
"We have no access to the boiler room, but we've started our interviews," Carmody said. "We talked to the captain and to the chief engineer, who said operations appeared to be normal at the time of the explosion."
She said there was no fire associated with the explosion, but the sprinkler system went off as a result of the vibration.
"If there is good news, it's that all the passengers were evacuated safely," Carmody said.
Ten days ago, the Norway passed its annual Coast Guard inspection covering machinery, safety equipment and navigational equipment. Coast Guard spokeswoman Anastasia Burns said no problems were found.
The popular 41-year-old ship also passed a sanitation inspection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nov. 17 with a score of 95. The passing grade is 86.
The Norway began its existence as the world's biggest luxury liner. Its capacity is well over 2,000 passengers.
Two years ago, the Norway failed a Coast Guard inspection and was ordered to remain in port. Inspectors found more than 100 problems with repairs on leaks in the sprinkler system.
The main pipe had been repaired using temporary measures, and inspectors said the pipeline could fail and allow a fire to spread.
The problems were repaired, and the Coast Guard allowed the ship to sail after a week in port.
After the France was launched as the largest liner in the world in 1962, it sailed until 1974 when it became so expensive to operate, it was taken out of service.
In 1977, an Arab millionaire bought it for $22 million, planning to make it a tourist attraction at Daytona Beach.
Those plans fell through, and Norwegian Lines bought the France in 1977 for $18 million and refurbished it as a cruise ship for $120 million.
Sailing out of Miami, it continued to have problems. In the early 1980s, the ship's electrical system failed, and it drifted for 28 hours. A few months later, in May 1981, a boiler room failure idled the ship at sea for another day.
A boiler room fire in December 1981 caused two cruises to be canceled, and the Norway drifted for a few hours in March 1982 after still another fire in the boiler room.
Star Cruises, which owns Norwegian Cruise Line, decided two years ago to take the liner to Asia. But Norwegian received so many inquiries from past and future customers, it brought the ship back to Miami where it sails the eastern Caribbean on weeklong cruises.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
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