Following the announcement by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that it would take a massive loss on the construction of two 122,000gt ships for Aida Cruises came the admission that the first ship, Aidaprima, would be delivered approximately six months later than scheduled.
Clearly this will be a major setback for Mitsubishi’s plan to re-enter the cruise ship construction market. In the company’s own words, it underestimated the amount of design work needed on the project. As a result, the previously scheduled 86-night maiden voyage from Japan to Hamburg in the spring of 2015 has been cancelled, as has the ship’s entire Northern European season.
Instead, she will sail from Japan in the autumn and spend the winter based in Dubai before heading to Hamburg for the first time, where, from late April 2016, she will be based permanently for seven-night English Channel and Norwegian Fjord cruises.
