The AIDAprima was constructed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Germany-based AIDA Cruises cruise operator. The former received a contract for building two new generation cruise vessels for the purposes of the latter back in August of 2011.
The cruiser in question was the very first one to sail from Germany’s port of Hamburg all year round. The vessel is 300 meters long, 37.6 meters wide and has an 8-meter draft. Its gross tonnage is 124,500 tonnes and it will be classified under the DNV GL class.
The Hyperion Class AIDAprima happened to be the first cruiser to incorporate the MHI-designed proprietary technology that is the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS), which is responsible for creating small air bubbles that cover the vessel’s bottom and form a sort of an air carper, thus contributing for the reduction of friction between the ship’s respective hull and the seawater. Statistics show that the system offers a 7% reduction of carbon dioxide and consumption of fuel.
The vessle comes equipped with a detailed filter system, which is able to reduce harmful emissions like nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide and soot particles. The new vessel will be able to accommodate 3,300 passengers in a total 1,643 staterooms of 14 different categories.
The luxury-class Veranda staterooms range from 20m² to 2,520m² and have two bathrooms, walk-in closets and a convertible sofa. They also offer a 6m² sunning area where a maximum of two passengers can enjoy the sun and catch a tan. The vessel’s 8th deck is where the Lanai staterooms are positioned. They offer passengers a winter garden along with a large veranda. The doors leading to the winter garden may be opened all the way in order to create an open sunny area of a total of 32m².
The vessel has 36 Panorama staterooms that give passengers the option of accessing a new patio deck, enjoying a protected sunny area, housing the bar and their very own private water landscape.
The 32 suites on board offer 53m² of living space with a private sun deck of up to 82m². Every suit comes along with a king size sofa bed, separate bedroom, a walk-in closet and two bathrooms.