Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will miss the delivery deadline of Aida Cruises’ flagship AIDAprima by three months, the Japanese shipbuilder said in a release.
Back in August, MHI announced a delay in delivery of AIDAprima, the first of two ships the German cruise line had ordered back in 2011, currently under construction at the Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Nagasaki, which had been scheduled for delivery in September.
Following the announcement, MHI has agreed with AIDA Cruises to set December as the new handover schedule of the first ship. AIDAprima and her sister ship have 124,500 GRT, are 300 meters in length and 37.60 meters wide, with space for around 3,300 passengers, and were originally scheduled for delivery in March of 2015 and March of 2016, respectively.
The latest delay forced the cruise line to reshuffle its itinerary for the winter season 2015/2016. Aida Cruises planned to launch AIDAprima on a maiden voyage from Yokohama to Dubai in October.
AIDAstella, previously planned in the Western Mediterranean, will take over the voyages originally planned with AIDAprima from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, between November 2015 and March 2016.
AIDAprima will take up its Metropolitan cruises from Hamburg in April, 2016, as planned. AIDAprima’s christening will also be held in Hamburg, the line said.