The first newbuilding of 2025 – the “Asuka III” for the Japanese shipping company NYK Cruises – left the dock at Meyer Werft in Papenburg. l
Two cranes erected the red and white funnel outside before the cruise ship was moved to the shipyard harbour in the course of the afternoon, where initial tests with the propulsion system and transverse thrusters were scheduled.
The 230.2-metre long and 29.8-metre wide cruise ship was pulled bow-first out of the smaller of the two covered building docks. A guide rail on which the ship is manoeuvred out of the dock helps those responsible for tugboats and on the bridge of the newbuildings in this part of the Papenburg dockyard during the undocking manoeuvre.
The interior work on the “Asuka III” will continue in the coming weeks. According to a public announcement by the Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation (NLWKN), the passage across the Ems from Papenburg to the North Sea is planned for around 2 March.
The “Asuka III” is the first ship built by the Papenburg shipbuilders for a Japanese client. The company landed the order in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. There is space for 740 passengers on board. The “Auska III” is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is fully tailored to the needs of the Japanese market.
The client NYK Cruises is part of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line, a company founded in 1885 and one of the largest shipping companies in the world. The NYK Group has one of the largest transportation and logistics networks in the world.
While the “Asuka III” is being prepared for delivery in Papenburg over the coming weeks, the next cruise ship for Disney Cruise Line, the “Disney Destiny”, is already under construction in the larger of the two building docks at Meyer Werft. She is due to enter service in November.
With new builds for Disney Cruise Line, the construction of converter platforms and the construction of the German research vessel “Meteor IV”, Meyer Werft is working at full capacity until 2031 despite the crisis. (CA)
