Construction of the new cruise ship for NYK Cruises, a company of the Japanese ship-ping group NYK, has now begun at MEYER WERFT with the symbolic steel cutting ceremony. The ship will be named ASUKA III and is scheduled for delivery in 2025.

“The order from NYK Cruises in 2021 in the middle of the pandemic was a strong signal for shipbuilding in Papenburg. Therefore, we are also very pleased today to have won NYK Cruises as a customer and to be able start in the construction of this modern cruise ship”, says Managing Director Thomas Weigend. The teams of MEYER and NYK Cruises are working extraordinary close together to create the ASUKA III. For the MEYER team, learning about Japanese culture and optimising a cruise ship for this market is a very appealing task.

Representatives of the Japanese company were guests at the shipyard for the tradi-tional ceremony and wished the project good luck with painting Daruma in the Japanese tradition. “In the ship’s designing, we are all grateful to the cooperation rendered by Meyer so far. We wish to continue this excellent relationship with them to the successful delivery of ASUKA III and beyond”, says Hiroyuki Endo, President NYK Cruises.

MEYER WERFT will use numerous customised solutions for the new cruise ship. These include hydrodynamics optimised according to the planned routes, contactless controls as well as on-board facilities adapted to the needs of Japanese passengers. The ship will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), one of the cleanest fuels currently avail-able for shipping. In addition to the reduction of CO2 emissions, the emission of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter can be almost completely eliminated, and sulphur oxides completely avoided.

Delivery of the 52,200 GT ship ASUKA III is scheduled for 2025. With a length of 230 metres and a width of 29.8 metres, it will offer space for 744 passengers.