Japan’s ‘biggest’ cruise ship, LNG-powered Asuka III, officially handed over to NYK

Japan’s “biggest cruise ship ever”, the LNG-powered Asuka III, has been officially delivered to NYK Cruises, a subsidiary of Japanese shipping group NYK.

The Asuka III was handed over by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft to NYK Cruises on April 10, following its technical and nautical sea trials conducted in the North Sea on March 18.

The trials were completed after the ship was transferred some 40 kilometers down the Ems from the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg.

Said to be “one of the most energy-efficient cruise ships ever built”, the cruise ship represents “an important milestone on the way to reducing emissions and carbon intensity”, the shipbuilder stated.

“The delivery of the ASUKA III is on schedule today and is an important milestone for us,” Bernd Eikens, CEO of MEYER WERFT Group, commented. “The entire Meyer Werft team, together with our partners, has worked hard to bring this ship to life and today we have completed another great ship. Many of the interior elements will only be brought on board in Yokohama, the ship’s home port, but it is already apparent that it will be a wonderful ship for the Japanese public.”

With the cruise ship designed to run on LNG, Meyer Werft and NYK Line project that the unit could accomplish ‘tremendous’ reductions in particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur oxide (SOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

NYK booked the ship in March 2021 when it was revealed that the German shipbuilding player would use a range of customized solutions for the unit, including hydrodynamics optimized according to the planned routes and contactless controls.

Construction began in September 2023 and lasted until January 2025 when the cruise vessel was floated out of the covered building dock. Asuka III will now join its sister ship, the 241-meter-long Asuka II which was its owner’s only unit so far.