ALMACO Group Upgrades Refrigeration Controls and Completes Maintenance Onboard Norwegian Escape

During Norwegian Escape’s dry dock in Marseille in October 2026, ALMACO Group upgraded the automation of the ship’s provision refrigeration plant and snowroom, carried out a mechanical revision of six refrigeration compressors and replaced the air coolers in four galley freezer rooms. All of this was done while the ship served as a hotel for about 5,000 people. 

For Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Escape, ALMACO Group delivered a combined upgrade and maintenance project on the ship’s refrigeration systems. The work started with an onboard intervention during sailing in September 2026 and was completed during the dry dock in Marseille, France, from 12 to 25 October 2026. 

ALMACO’s Scope Onboard 

• Automation upgrade of the provision refrigeration plant. The two positive and two negative condensing units received new PLCs and touch-screens, with rewritten programs and updated mimics.  

• Snowroom control upgrade. The complete control cabinet of the spa snowroom was replaced with a program rewritten from scratch and the air cooler’s insulated box was renewed.  

• Compressor maintenance. Six screw compressors on the positive and negative units received a mechanical revision. Complete suction lines were replaced where needed and the positive chillers received new main expansion valves.  

• Air cooler replacement. New air coolers were installed in four Galley walk-in freezers, with additional hatches and new isolation valves.  

Keeping the Cold Chain Running 

Norwegian Escape was anything but an empty ship during this dry dock. She served as a hotel ship for the contractors working on other NCLH vessels in dry dock in Marseille at the same time, with some 5,000 people living onboard. On the positive side, ALMACO upgraded and serviced the units one at a time, using the back-up capacity of the plant so that the cold stores never stopped. The negative system was a different challenge: both circuits of its two units had to be worked on, so negative cold production was stopped for a planned period. 

All frozen food was moved to refrigerated containers on the quay. In that window, ALMACO installed the new freezer air coolers, replaced piping, revised the compressors and upgraded the automation of the negative system. The schedule was agreed day by day with the ship’s Chief Refrigeration Engineer, NCL’s dry dock logistics and the F&B team, so the food could be transferred back onboard seamlessly before the end of the dry dock. Every unit and freezer room was presented to the ship’s team for final commissioning and acceptance. 

Communication & Cooperation 

Up to fourteen people worked onboard: ALMACO’s project manager, refrigeration and automation engineers, pipe fitters and welders.  

“Working in parallel with all the other dry dock works, the key was to plan each shut-down together with the ship’s engineers. That close daily coordination is what allowed us to stop the negative system, keep the positive system running and deliver four work packages simultaneously before the end of the dry dock,” says Leïla Nadifi, Project Manager at ALMACO Group. 

The project is part of ALMACO’s lifecycle services for cruise operators: control upgrades, refrigeration maintenance and retrofits that extend the life and reliability of existing onboard plants. Most of the proposed upgrades and services can either be carried out in service or in dry dock.  

ALMACO wishes Norwegian Escape, her crew and her guests happy sailing!

For more information, contact

Hervé Touzard

President, Lifecycle Services Division

[email protected]