''Diamond Princess'' is a British-registered

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 Tourism, tours k ...

owned and operated by

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California and is incorporated in Bermuda. As of 2025, it is the List of cruise lines#List of cruise lines by size, s ...

. She began operation in March 2004 and primarily cruises in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

during the northern hemisphere summer and

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during the southern hemisphere summer. She is a subclassed ship, which is also known as a ''Gem''-class ship. ''Diamond Princess'' and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, , are the widest subclass of ''Grand''-class ships, as they have a beam, while all other ''Grand''-class ships have a beam of . ''Diamond Princess'' and ''Sapphire Princess'' were both built in Nagasaki, Japan, by Mitsubishi Industries. There have been two notable outbreaks of infectious disease on the ship – an outbreak of

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

caused by

norovirus Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus and sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may ...

in 2016 and an outbreak of COVID-19 caused by

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

in 2020. In the latter incident, the ship was quarantined for nearly a month with her passengers on board, and her passengers and crew were subject to further quarantine after disembarking. At least 712 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew were infected, and by mid-April 2020 nine had died.

Design and description

The diesel-electric plant of ''Diamond Princess'' has four diesel generators and a gas turbine generator. The diesel generators are

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...

46 series common rail engines, two straight 9-cylinder configuration (9L46), and two straight 8-cylinder configuration (8L46). The 8- and 9-cylinder engines can produce approximately and , respectively. These engines are fueled with heavy fuel oil (HFO or bunker c) and marine gas oil (MGO) depending on the local regulations regarding emissions, as MGO produces much lower emissions, but is much more expensive. The gas turbine generator is a

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

LM2500, producing a peak of fueled by MGO. This generator is much more expensive to run than the diesel generators, and is used mostly in areas, such as

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, where the emissions regulations are strict. It is also used when high speed is required to make it to a port in a shorter time period. There are two propulsion electric motors, driving fixed-pitch propellers and six thrusters used during maneuvering – three at the bow and three at the stern. The propulsion electric motors (PEMs), are conventional synchronous motors made by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Motors. The two motors are each rated to 20 MW and have a maximum speed of 154 rpm. (Rated speed of 0-145 rpm.) In June 2017 ''Diamond Princess'' was retrofitted with a hull air lubrication system to reduce fuel consumption and related CO₂ emissions.

Construction and career

''Diamond Princess'' was built in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, 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 prede ...

, the first

ship to be built in a Japanese shipyard. Her only

is , with whom she swapped names during construction. She and her sister ship were the largest cruise ships to be built by Mitsubishi since the '' Crystal Harmony'' in 1991. The ship was originally intended to be christened ''Sapphire Princess''. However, construction of another ship – the one intended to be ''Diamond Princess'' (currently sailing as ) – was delayed when fire swept through her decks during construction. Because completion of the damaged ship would be delayed for some time, her

, which was also under construction, was renamed ''Diamond Princess''. The name swap helped keep the delivery of ''Diamond Princess'' on time. Due to the fire and name swap, both vessels would be the last Carnival Corporation & plc vessels built by Mitsubishi until the completion of '' AIDAprima'' in 2016. She was the first

ship to be built in a Japanese shipyard, and the first to forego the controversial "wing" or "shopping cart handle" structure overhanging the stern, which houses the Skywalkers Nightclub on , and , and which was originally also a feature of prior to her 2011 refit. Prior to 2014, ''Diamond Princess'' alternated sailing north and southbound voyages of the glacier cruises during the northern summer months and in the southern summer, she sailed from Australia and New Zealand. Starting in 2014, she undertook cruises from

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

for

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

in the northern summer season. For the 2016–17 season, she sailed round-trip cruises in the northern winter months from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

was added as part of her destination along with Vietnamese port of

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

in December 2016. She resumed voyaging from

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for the 2017–18 season. After the 2018 Australia and New Zealand cruises, ''Diamond Princess'' was re-positioned into South-East Asia for most of 2018, varying between Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia.

2016 gastroenteritis cases

In February 2016, ''Diamond Princess'' experienced a

outbreak, caused by

sickening 158 passengers and crew on board, as confirmed after arrival in Sydney by NSW Health.

Coronavirus disease 2019

On 20 January 2020, an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong embarked in Yokohama, sailed one segment of the itinerary, and disembarked in Hong Kong on 25 January. He visited a local Hong Kong hospital, six days after leaving the ship, where he later tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 1 February. Entries from 1 to 27 February 2020 On its next voyage, 4 February, the ship was in Japanese waters when 10 passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the early stages of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The ship was

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

d on 4 February in 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 nort ...

in Japan. The infected included at least 138 from India (including 132 crew and 6 passengers), 35 Filipinos, 32 Canadians, 24 Australians, 13 Americans, 4 Indonesians, 4 Malaysians, and 2 Britons. Home countries arranged to evacuate their citizens and quarantine them further in their own countries. As of 1 March, all on board including the crew and the Italian captain Gennaro Arma had disembarked. As of 16 March, at least 712 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew had tested positive for the virus. As of 14 April, fourteen of those who were on board had died from the disease. On 30 March, the ship was cleared to sail again after the ship was cleaned and disinfected. On 16 May, ''Diamond Princess'' departed from the Port of Yokohama. Japan ended up paying 94% of the medical expenses incurred by the Diamond Princess passengers. All cruises throughout 2020 remained cancelled and as of March 2021 the ship was bunkering in Malaysia and the outer port limit (OPL) area of Singapore Port. ''Quarantine!'', a book written by passenger Gay Courter on her experience on board the quarantined vessel, was released in November 2020. The

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary '' The Last Cruise'' tells the story of the voyage.

Post-pandemic return to service

After the lay-up induced by the COVID-19, ''Diamond Princess'' was announced as returning to service in August 2022. However, the first three months of scheduled cruises had to be cancelled due to staffing issues. ''Diamond Princess'' officially returned to service in November 2022.

References

External links

''Diamond Princess'' – Princess Cruises
{{Princess Cruises ships Ships of Princess Cruises Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 2003 ships Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 pandemic in Japan