MS is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

owned and operated by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. She was originally built by the

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

shipyard in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

, Japan, as ''Crystal Harmony'' for

Crystal Cruises } Crystal Cruises is a cruise line now headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1988 by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and sold to Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate Genting Hong Kong in 2015. Following i ...

. In 2006, ''Crystal Harmony'' was transferred from the fleet of Crystal Cruises to that of Crystal's parent company, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and entered service under her current name. , she was the largest cruise ship in Japan.

Service history

1990–2006: ''Crystal Harmony''

Crystal Harmony arriving in Wellington Harbor, 27 February 2005 (cropped)

During ''Crystal Harmony''s maiden voyage in the South American and Caribbean waters, the ship caught on fire due to a fuel leak in an auxiliary engine room some from

Cristóbal Cristóbal or Cristobal, the Spanish version of Christopher, is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer *Cristóbal Cobo (born 1976), Chilean academic *Cri ...

. ''Crystal Harmony'' drifted without power for sixteen hours but after repairs made it to port under her own steam and disembarked her passengers in Panama. She sailed to the island of Curaçao, escorted by a tugboat, for repairs.

2006 onwards: ''Asuka II''

After fifteen years of service, ''Crystal Harmony'' was retired from the Crystal fleet in 2005. She was transferred to the parent company Nippon Yusen Kaisha to replace the ''Asuka''. She then underwent renovation and re-entered service as ''Asuka II''. She caught fire again on June 16 2020 while at dock in Yokohama.

2021 COVID-19 case

On 30 April 2021, the ship was en route from the

Port of Yokohama The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the north ...

and was scheduled to stop at Aomori and

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

prefectures when one case of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

was detected on board. The passenger was reportedly stable and in isolation in a cabin. The ship returned to Yokohama were the rest of passengers and crew were disembarked.

References

External links

Marine traffic

asukacruise.co.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asuka II 1989 ships Cruise ships Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic