Azamara Pursuit will enter service on a Norwegian fjord sailing schedule this summer after a refit at Harland & Wolff shipyard, according to an announcement in early January 2018. The refit will be fully managed by MJM Group, a marine interior outfitting company.

Azamara will take delivery of the ship in March 2018 in the Caribbean, where she end her service as P&O Adonia. The vessel will then sail to Belfast for a four-month refit, to be under the guidance of MJM, during which she will be enamed Azamara Pursuit, the third ship in the company’s fleet.

“This is the first time any company within Royal Caribbean Cruises has used a UK shipyard for refit works of this scale. We are delighted to come to Northern Ireland with Azamara Pursuit,” commented Larry Pimental, president and CEO of Azamara Club Cruises.

He added that Pursuit was currently 40 per cent booked by British guests and the decisions to refurbish and launch the ship from the British Isles was “history in the making on many levels” for the line.

Azamara Pursuit’s first four voyages will all include UK calls and follows Azamara’s previous announcement that the vessel will be named in Southampton during the summer.