AIDAblu
AIDAblu is a Sphinx-class cruise ship, operated by the German cruise line, AIDA Cruises. AIDAblu is the seventh ship[7] in the cruise line. The vessel was delivered by Meyer Werft to its owners last 4 February 2010.[5] She is a sister ship to AIDAdiva, AIDAbella, AIDAluna[7] with a half deck more, and is followed by similar AIDAsol and AIDAmar. She has a passenger capacity of 2,050.
AIDAblu in Corfu | |
History | |
---|---|
Name: | AIDAblu |
Owner: | Costa Crociere S.p.A.[1] |
Operator: | AIDA Cruises |
Port of registry: | Genoa, Italy[2] |
Ordered: | July 1, 2006[2] |
Builder: | Meyer Werft (Germany) |
Cost: | $420 million |
Yard number: | S. 680[2][3] |
Christened: | February 9, 2010 in Hamburg by Jette Joop[4] |
Maiden voyage: | February 9, 2010 to Palma, Majorca |
Identification: |
|
Status: | In service[5] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Sphinx-class[6] cruise ship |
Tonnage: | 71,304 GT[1] |
Length: | 253.33 m (831.14 ft)[1] |
Beam: | 32.2 m (105.64 ft)[1] |
Draught: | 7.3 m (23.95 ft)[1] |
Decks: | 15 decks |
Installed power: | Diesel-electric (about 36,000kW)[3] |
Propulsion: | 4 Caterpillar MaK engines[3][6] |
Capacity: | 2,192 passengers |
Crew: | 607 crew |
The name of AIDAblu had been used for a former AIDA ship from 2004–2007. AIDA Cruises' parent company, Carnival Corporation & plc, then transferred the ship to another cruise line., Ocean Village, and was renamed Ocean Village Two. In 2009, Ocean Village Two was again transferred to another cruise line, P&O Cruises Australia, also a Carnival daughter company, and was renamed Pacific Jewel.
Record holder
AIDAblu is presently the record holder for the fastest English Channel crossing between Le Havre and Southampton by cruise ship. AIDAblu left Le Havre, France at 20:00 on 5 September 2011 in poor weather with 70 mph (110 km/h) winds and 10 feet (3.0 m) seas and arrived in Southampton, England at 02:45 on 5 September 2011 (a crossing time of 6 hours, 45 minutes).[8]
Facilities
AIDAblu offers six restaurants (with a total area of 3,988 square metres (43,000 sq ft),[6] ten bars,[6] a 1,956 square metres (21,000 sq ft) wellness area,[6] 8,120 square metres (87,000 sq ft) of outer deck area,[6] and a 3,000 square metres (32,000 sq ft) theatrium.[6] There are also special internal and external areas for children.[6]
AIDAblu currently features one of the largest wellness centers on a cruise ship, at 2,600 m2.[5] It also has the first brewery installed on a cruise ship, where the beer served in the ship are brewed.[5]
AIDAblu has 1096 cabins, 374 are on the inside and 722 on the outside.[5] The callsign is IBWX . IMO 9398888 . MMSI 247282500.
Incidents
In 2010 Francesco Schettino, the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia before, was the captain of the Costa Atlantica, also a Carnival Corporation ship as it entered the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at too high a speed, allegedly causing damage to the AIDAblu.[9]
2020 COVID-19 outbreak
On 2020.05.18, a male Filipino crew member of AIDAblu was found dead in his cabin.[10] He had worked in the ship's galley department.[10] The ship was docked in Hamburg at the time.[10] The crew member was not suspected to have died of COVID-19.[10] During the previous week, 188 crew members of AIDAblu had been successfully repatriated from Germany to the Philippines, though it is unclear why the deceased was not among them.[11][12] In addition, many employees working for AIDA Cruises have praised the company for their transparency and honesty since the start of the pandemic, as well as the care that their managers have shown for their mental health.[10]
References
- "AIDAblu (112808)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Germanischer Lloyd. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
- "Yard No. 680 Meyer W." Vessel Assessment System. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- "AIDA Cruises orders new cruise ship". Meyer Werft. 6 December 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
- "AIDAblu Christened Successfully". Cruise Industry News. 2010-02-10. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
- "Delivery of AIDAblu". Meyerwerft website. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- "New club ship generation with MaK engines from Caterpillar" (PDF). Caterpillar Marine Power Systems. 2005. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- "New Cruise Vessel, AIDAblu". Maritime News. 2009-06-01. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- "Ships Monthly". Kelsey. November 2011: 8. Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) - "Costa Capt. Crashed Before: Report". The Daily Beast. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- http://crew-center.com/filipino-crew-member-found-dead-his-cabin-aida-cruise-ship
- https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2020/05/articles/disease/filipino-galley-employee-dies-on-aidablu/
- https://frankfurtpcg.de/ph-consulate-general-in-frankfurt-assists-repatriation-of-239-filipino-seafarers
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to AIDAblu. |
- Official AIDAblu website (in German)
- "AIDAblu (112808)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Germanischer Lloyd. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
- Current Position
- Deck Plans
- "AIDAblu (9398888)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- AIDAblu Cruise Ship, Germany Images