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| History | |
|---|---|
 [1]United Kingdom | |
| Name | Diamond Princess |
| Owner |  Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator | Princess Cruises |
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Cost | US$500 million |
| Yard number | 2181 |
| Laid down | 2 March 2002 |
| Launched | 12 April 2003 |
| Christened | 26 February 2004 |
| Completed | 26 February 2004 |
| Maiden voyage | 2004 |
| In service | March 2004 |
| Identification | |
| Status | In service |
| Notes | [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gem-classcruise ship |
| Tonnage | 115,875 GT |
| Length | 290.2 m (952 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 37.49 m (123 ft 0 in) |
| Height | 62.48 m (205 ft 0 in) |
| Draught | 8.53 m (28 ft 0 in) |
| Decks | 16 |
| Installed power | Wärtsilä 46 series common rail engines |
| Propulsion | Twin propellers |
| Speed | 22knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Capacity | 2,670 passengers |
| Crew | 1,100 crew |
| Notes | [1] |
Diamond Princess is a British-registeredcruise ship owned and operated byPrincess Cruises. She began operation in March 2004 and primarily cruises inAsia during the northern hemisphere summer andAustralia during the southern hemisphere summer. She is a subclassedGrand-class ship, which is also known as aGem-class ship.Diamond Princess and hersister ship,Sapphire Princess, are the widest subclass ofGrand-class ships, as they have a 37.5-metre (123 ft 0 in)beam, while all otherGrand-class ships have a beam of 36 metres (118 ft 1 in).Diamond Princess andSapphire Princess were both built inNagasaki, Japan, byMitsubishi Industries.
There have been two notable outbreaks of infectious disease on the ship – an outbreak ofgastroenteritis caused bynorovirus in 2016 and anoutbreak of COVID-19 caused bySARS-CoV-2 in 2020. In the latter incident, the ship was quarantined for nearly a month with her passengers on board, and her passengers and crew were subject to further quarantine after disembarking. At least 712 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew were infected,[2] and by mid-April 2020 nine had died.[3][4]
The diesel-electric plant ofDiamond Princess has four diesel generators and a gas turbine generator. The diesel generators areWärtsilä 46 series common rail engines, twostraight 9-cylinder configuration (9L46), and twostraight 8-cylinder configuration (8L46). The 8- and 9-cylinder engines can produce approximately 8,500 kW (11,400 hp) and 9,500 kW (12,700 hp), respectively. These engines are fueled withheavy fuel oil (HFO or bunker c) andmarine gas oil (MGO) depending on the local regulations regarding emissions, as MGO produces much lower emissions, but is much more expensive.[citation needed]
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The gas turbine generator is aGeneral ElectricLM2500, producing a peak of 25,000 kW (34,000 hp) fueled by MGO. This generator is much more expensive to run than the diesel generators, and is used mostly in areas, such asAlaska, where the emissions regulations are strict. It is also used when high speed is required to make it to a port in a shorter time period.[citation needed]
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There are two propulsion electric motors, driving fixed-pitch propellers and six thrusters used during maneuvering – three at the bow and three at the stern. The propulsion electric motors (PEMs), are conventional synchronous motors made byAlstom Motors. The two motors are each rated to 20 MW and have a maximum speed of 154 rpm. (Rated speed of 0-145 rpm.)[citation needed]
In June 2017Diamond Princess was retrofitted with ahull air lubrication system to reduce fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions.[5]
Diamond Princess was built inJapan byMitsubishi Heavy Industries, the firstPrincess Cruises ship to bebuilt in a Japanese shipyard. Her onlysister ship isSapphire Princess, with whom she swapped names during construction. She and her sister ship were the largest cruise ships to be built by Mitsubishi since theCrystal Harmony in 1991.
The ship was originally intended to be christenedSapphire Princess. However, construction of another ship – the one intended to beDiamond Princess (currently sailing asSapphire Princess) – was delayed when fire swept through her decks during construction. Because completion of the damaged ship would be delayed for some time, hersister ship, which was also under construction, was renamedDiamond Princess. The name swap helped keep the delivery ofDiamond Princess on time.[6] Due to the fire and name swap, both vessels would be the last Carnival Corporation & plc vessels built by Mitsubishi until the completion ofAIDAprima in 2016.[7]
She was the firstPrincess Cruises ship to be built in a Japanese shipyard, and the first to forego the controversial "wing" or "shopping cart handle" structure overhanging the stern, which houses the Skywalkers Nightclub onCaribbean Princess,Golden Princess andStar Princess, and which was originally also a feature ofGrand Princess prior to her 2011 refit.[citation needed]
Prior to 2014,Diamond Princess alternated sailing north and southbound voyages of the glacier cruises during the northern summer months and in the southern summer, she sailed from Australia and New Zealand. Starting in 2014, she undertook cruises fromYokohama forTokyo orKobe in the northern summer season.[8]
For the 2016–17 season, she sailed round-trip cruises in the northern winter months fromSingapore.[9]Kota Kinabalu was added as part of her destination along with Vietnamese port ofNha Trang in December 2016.[10] She resumed voyaging fromSydney for the 2017–18 season.[11]
After the 2018 Australia and New Zealand cruises,Diamond Princess was re-positioned into South-East Asia for most of 2018, varying between Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia.[12]
In February 2016,Diamond Princess experienced agastroenteritis outbreak, caused bynorovirus sickening 158 passengers and crew on board, as confirmed after arrival in Sydney byNSW Health.[13]
On 20 January 2020, an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong embarked in Yokohama, sailed one segment of the itinerary, and disembarked in Hong Kong on 25 January. He visited a local Hong Kong hospital, six days after leaving the ship, where he later tested positive forCOVID-19 on 1 February.[14] On its next voyage, 4 February, the ship was in Japanese waters when 10 passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the early stages of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[15]
The ship wasquarantined on 4 February[14] in thePort of Yokohama in Japan.[16] The infected included at least 138 from India (including 132 crew and 6 passengers), 35 Filipinos, 32 Canadians, 24 Australians, 13 Americans, 4 Indonesians, 4 Malaysians,[17] and 2 Britons.[18][19][20] Home countries arranged to evacuate their citizens and quarantine them further in their own countries. As of 1 March, all on board including the crew and the Italian captainGennaro Arma had disembarked.[21]
As of 16 March, at least 712 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew had tested positive for the virus.[22][23] As of 14 April, fourteen of those who were on board had died from the disease.[24] On 30 March, the ship was cleared to sail again after the ship was cleaned and disinfected.[25][26][27]
On 16 May,Diamond Princess departed from the Port of Yokohama.[28] Japan ended up paying 94% of the medical expenses incurred by the Diamond Princess passengers.[29] All cruises throughout 2020 remained cancelled[30] and as of March 2021 the ship was bunkering in Malaysia and the outer port limit (OPL) area of Singapore Port.[31]
Quarantine!, a book written by passengerGay Courter on her experience on board the quarantined vessel, was released in November 2020.[32][33] TheHBO documentaryThe Last Cruise tells the story of the voyage.[24]
After the lay-up induced by the COVID-19,Diamond Princess was announced as returning to service in August 2022. However, the first three months of scheduled cruises had to be cancelled due to staffing issues.[34]
Diamond Princess officially returned to service in November 2022.[34]
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