(Click this MS Asuka II Cruise Ship text link to see the largest size)
The Asuka II is in the Inner Harbour (ex-Commercial Harbour), part of the Western Docks, that is bounded to the left by the out-of-shot Prince of Wales Pier.
To the left of the passenger ship is the Southern Breakwater and DHB David Church dredger, a Dover Harbour Board vessel.
Towards the bow on the right is the Cruise Terminal 2 building; near the stern is part of the Admiralty Pier Turret base (alt. Dover Turret), an enclosed Victorian armoured turret built in 1882.
The photo was taken at 1.05 pm on Monday, 16th of May, 2011, from the upper level of the Admiralty Pier.
The MS Asuka II (飛鳥II, alt. MV Asuka 2) "changed to foreign trade" on Sunday, 3rd of April, and departed Yokohama (横浜市, Yokohama-shi, 日本, Japan) at 4 pm on a World Cruise (1) and then called at Singapore, Port Louis (capital of Mauritius), Cape Town (South Africa), Walvis Bay (Namibia), Dakar (capital of Senegal), Lisbon (capital of Portugal), and Rouen (capital of Normandy, France) before arriving at Dover, England (nb this itinerary may not include tourist ports of call).
After leaving Dover, the passenger ship will call at Amsterdam (Holland/Netherlands), Warnemunde (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), Bergen (Norway), Honningsvag (Norway), Rekyjavik (Iceland), New York (USA), Nassau (Bahamas), Plays del Carmen (for Cozumel Island, Mexico), Panama Canal, Acapulco (Mexico), San Francisco (USA), Hilo (Hawaii, US), Honolulu (Hawaii, US), and Yokohama (Japan) on Thursday, 14th of July.
The following day, 15th of July, 2011, the MS Asuka II is scheduled to arrive in Kobe (Japan) and change back to domestic trade.
Videos:
1) The official "Welcome to Asuka II" video (in Japanese)
2) A well-made amateur video of the MS Asuka II sailing up the Hudson River and passing under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City:
MS Asuka II (飛鳥II - the "Flying Bird") is a cruise ship owned and operated by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (日本郵船株式会社 Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha). It was originally built by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan as MS Crystal Harmony for Crystal Cruises (see below). 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. As of February 2009 it is the largest cruise ship in Japan.
Ship Service History
1990 - 2006: During the Crystal Harmony's maiden voyage in the South American/Caribbean waters, the ship caught on fire due to water entering her engine system. The Crystal Harmony drifted afloat for three days when, eventually, it was towed into dry dock for repair the island of Curacao (Curaçao).
2006 onwards: The Crystal Harmony was retired from the Crystal fleet in 2005. It was transferred to the parent company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, underwent some renovations, and re-entered service as Asuka II.
Ship Features
The MS Asuka II features 8 passenger accessible decks. The ship has 2 swimming pools, 8 bars, a casino and fitness centre. There is also a 277 seat theatre. There are 461 outside cabins, 260 of which have private balconies. There are 19 inside cabins.
Vessel details (2) (3)
Name: 1990 - 2006: Crystal Harmony, 2006 onwards: Asuka II
Owner: 1990 - 2006: Crystal Cruises, 2006 onwards: Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line)
Operator: 1990 - 2006: Crystal Cruises, 2006 onwards: Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Cruises)
Port of registry: 1990 - 2006: Nassau, Bahamas, 2006 onwards: Unknown, Japan
Builder: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, Japan
Yard number: 2100
Launched: 30 September 1989
Acquired: July 1990
Type: cruise ship
Tonnage: 50,142 GT (gross tonnage), 8,642 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
Length: 241 m (790 ft 8 in)
Beam: 29.6 m (97 ft 1 in)
Draught: 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Decks: 8
Installed power: 4 × MAN Diesel Engines, 32,800 kW
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Capacity: 960 passengers
Crew: 545
Flag: Japan
Call Sign: 7JBI
IMO: 8806204
MMSI: 432545000
Crystal Cruise Lines, most commonly seen as Crystal Cruises, is a Japanese luxury cruise line founded in 1988 and notable for its two medium-sized, high-end ships, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, which each hold about 1,000 guests. The line is a wholly owned subsidiary of the large Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The line has its headquarters in Century City, Los Angeles, California.
(1) Asuka II Voyage Plan (from International Cruise Management Agency, ICMA, a fully owned subsidiary of NYK Line, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, of Tokyo, Japan)
(2) Wikipedia entry for MS Asuka II
(3) Marinetraffic entry for MS Asuka II
(4) Wikipedia entry for Crystal Cruises
The main photo first appeared at:
MS Asuka II Cruise Ship berthed at the Admiralty Pier, Dover Harbour
Berthed at Cruise Terminal 2 on Tuesday, 10th of May, 2011:
Click to see all Cruise Ship photos.
Clickable thumbnails of all harbour-related photos on the main Panoramio Images of Dover website are available on this blog at the Port of Dover Page (also linked to below the blog title).
The Panoramio photos are each accompanied by a Google Earth satellite map. However, the images are smaller than those on the Images of Dover Blog and the captions are less well formatted.
Port of Dover travel and tourism in the Western Docks.
John Latter / Jorolat
Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town
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