AIDA Cruises New Flagship Delayed Again at MHI

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries says that the delivery of a next-generation cruise ship for AIDA Cruises scheduled for September will be delayed by three months.

The ship, named AIDAPrima, is the first of two new cruise ships being built by MHI and will be the flagship of the German cruise line.

MHI said in a statement Wednesday it has reached an agreement with AIDA cruises to push delivery of the AIDAPrima to December 2015 from its previously scheduled delivery date in September. MHI first indicated that the vessel would be delayed in August but a new delivery date had not been determined.

The two new vessels have 124,500 GRT and are 300 meters in length by 37.60 meters wide, with capacity for around 3,300 passengers. The vessels are under construction at the Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Nagasaki, Japan.

Delivery of the AIDAPrima and sister vessel was originally anticipated March of 2015 and March of 2016, respectively.

AIDAPrima was expected to make its maiden voyage from Japan to Germany beginning in March 2015, but the 86-day voyage was cancelled. The vessel was then scheduled to depart Japan on October 1st for an inaugural sailing season in Asia with legs departing from Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai. It seems not that those voyages have also cancelled.

The AIDAprima will sail year-round from Hamburg beginning in Spring 2016. Plans for the ship between delivery in December and its arrival in Germany have not been disclosed.

Interesting to note that the new vessels are the first cruise ships to use MHI’s proprietary technology Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS).