Fuji Maru

Fuji Maru

Intro

The Fuji Maru above is departing Singapore on her way to open sea, full of eager youths from the Ship of World Youth program. The Fuji Maru holds a significant placeholder in the history of ship building in Japan. She was the first cruise ship constructed in Japan and the first cruise ship dedicated to the Japanese market.

She paved the way for industry growth as the industrial might of Japan challenged Europe for dominance in the passenger ship building segment. The Fuji Maru also holds the key to the evolution of the Japanese cruise industry as we explore her history, design and future prospects.

History

In the early 90’s, cruising as a vacation was still a very new concept in Japan. While MOL (Mitsui OSK Line) had enough confidence to place an order for 2 cruise ships with Mitsubishi Heavy, the final multipurpose design of the Fuji Maru does show skepticism from her owners to rely solely on cruising for her success. The Fuji Maru was in fact designed from the beginning to be an agile ship that can cater to cruises, educational charters or corporate incentive trips.

The construction of the Fuji Maru kicked off a cruise ship building boom in Japan. From 1989 to 2004, Japanese shipyards constructed a series of significant ships for the cruise industry. The table below highlights some of the ships built during this period. It is a noteworthy testament to the quality of Japanese shipbuilding that 2 of the ships built for the domestic Japanese market have ended up in the hands of German cruise lines and 1 built for the ultra-luxurious Crystal Cruises which was targeted at wealthy Americans has been reassigned back to the Japanese home market.

Current Name	Name as built	Delivery	Tonnage	Yard	Operator	Parent Company
Fuji Maru	Same	1 April, 1989	23,235	Mitsubishi Heavy, Kobe	MOPAS (Nippon Charter Cruise)	MOL
Clipper Odyssey	Oceanic Grace	1 April, 1989	5,218	Nippon Kokan, Tsu	Zegrahm Expeditions	Odyssey Owner
Asuka II	Crystal Harmony	1 July, 1990	50,142	Mitsubishi Heavy, Nagasaki	Asuka Cruise	NYK
Delphin Voyager	Orient Venus	8 July, 1990	23,287	Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy, Tokyo	Delphin Kruzfarten	First Cruise One
Nippon Maru	Same	22 September, 1990	22,472	Mitsubishi Heavy, Kobe	MOPAS (Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Line)	MOL
Amadea	Asuka	1 December, 1991	29,008	Mitsubishi Heavy, Nagasaki	Phoenix Reisen	Amadea Shipping
Pacific Venus	Same	27 March, 1998	26,594	Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy, Tokyo	Japan Cruise Line (Venus Cruise)	SHK Line
Sapphire Princess	Diamond Princess	1 May, 2004	115,875	Mitsubishi Heavy, Nagasaki	Princess Cruises	Carnival Corp

Construction & Design

The Fuji Maru shares the same dimensions and exact hull design as her half-sister, Nippon Maru. From bow to stern and keel to just below the Promenade, the ships are almost identical. However the variances in the superstructure gives each ship a unique personality.

The navigation bridge of the Fuji Maru is located one deck higher than her half-sister with 3 multi-layered observation decks beneath the bridge akin to the design of Royal Princess. The funnels of both ships are dramatically different with the exception of both being painted the same standard MOL red-orange. The Fuji Maru has 8 passenger decks compared to her sister's 7 however, after a recent renovation which included the addition of balcony cabins and new lounges on the upper most deck, Nippon Maru is now of the same relative height as the Fuji Maru.

The photos below give a side comparison of the Fuji Maru and Nippon Maru (pre-renovation).

It is important to remember that the Fuji Maru was designed with Japanese passengers in mind and to have versatility in public areas to help accommodate the multipurpose roles required of the ship. The interior spaces are functional and are the antithesis of the gaudy Joseph Farcus decorated Carnival cruise ships. Neon lights and glitzy chrome are replaced with pine wood, indirect lighting and light earth toned fabrics. A large portion of public spaces have been allocated as function rooms for group meetings. The utilitarian contemporary furniture could as easily be found in an office building giving Fuji Maru the feel of a business hotel rather than that of a luxurious cruise ship.

Like most Asians, the Japanese are adverse to the aging effects of the sun and subsequently, her designers have limited the use of exterior deck space. On Deck 8 just forward of the funnel, is a small, glass enclosed verandah housing the outdoor swimming pool. Compared to other similar sized ships, this is a very limited amount of space and would certainly not satisfy the cravings of sun worshipping western passengers.

Technical Data

Name(s):	Fuji Maru
IMO:	8700474
Call Sign:	JBTQ
Builder:	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kobe (Japan)
Yard Number:	1170
Delivery:	17-Apr-1989
Gross Tonnage:	23,235
Length:	167.0	m	547.9	ft
Beam:	24.0	m	78.7	ft
Draft:	6.6	m	21.5	ft
Passengers:	328	lower	164	cabins	603	max
Passenger to Space Ratio:	38.53
Crew:	190	Crew to Passenger Max			1:3.2
Engines:	Mitsubishi Heavy 2 x 2SA8CY diesels producing a total of 15,740 kW (21,108 hp)
Propulsion:	2 x propellers
Thrusters:	1 x bow thruster
Speed:	Cruising	18 kts	Max	22.4 kts
Owner:	Nippon Charter Cruise, Ltd. (Japan)

Current history

Indeed, the Fuji Maru has fulfilled her role well as a multipurpose passenger ship with a large part of her career being spent on charter. At the moment, she is traveling the globe for the Ship of World Youth (SWY) program which is in large part sponsored by the International Youth Exchange Organization of Japan (IYEO). The abbreviated goal of the program is to; “broaden the global view of Japanese youths, to promote mutual understanding and friendship between Japanese and foreign youths as well as to cultivate the spirit of international cooperation”.

The official 23^rd journey for the SWY program started on Friday the 21^st of January 2011 when the ship departed from Yokohama. Over the next two months, the ship will visit several pacific islands en route to Australia before returning to Japan.

Future

As the Japanese cruise market continues to grow and mature, expect to see a larger number of cruise ships dedicated to the island nation. As a sign of positive change in the Japanese attitude towards cruising, Royal Caribbean in 2010 was awarded “Best cruise product of the year” in Japan. Considering the high level of expectations from Japanese customers, this is no small achievement and will only encourage other western brands to start their expansion into the Japanese market.

There has been a massive shift in Asian cruising. Unlike most cruise lines who will fly in western passengers to sight see in Asia and then return home, Royal Caribbean and to a lesser extent Costa (on behalf of Carnival) are finding their customers in Asia for Asia. The thought that Japanese customers will only be comfortable on a “Japanese only” cruise ship is false. Royal Caribbean fills the Legend of the Seas, which is double the size of most Japanese cruise ships, with passengers and large tour groups from Japan.

The game has changed! If ever there was a wake-up call for Japanese cruise lines, the Royal Caribbean award could not be a louder rallying cry. To avoid being subjugated through a siege similar to what has beset the Australian market as Carnival and Royal Caribbean devour passenger share, Japanese cruise lines will need to innovate or become extinct.

Our prediction:

For the Fuji Maru, there are 3 possible career paths in front of her.

First, she can continue down the specialized charter route as an educational platform and eventually succeed The Oceanic in serving the PeaceBoat organization and serve out her days proudly as a shining example of Japan’s ship building prowess.

Second, she might be sold to Greek or German cruise interests, who recognize the quality in Japanese construction and with the proper renovations, see her delivering future revenue potential as a mid-size exploration cruise ship.

Finally, the most likely option, that in the next few years you will see MOL and other Japanese cruise companies take a stand and decide to vigorously defend the Japanese homeland before western cruise lines start carving it up. Expect to see Fuji Maru undergo the same type of cosmetic improvements and renovations as her sister. The addition of balcony cabins and upgrading of her interior to align to western standards will be necessary as the expectations of Japanese consumers are raised by western cruise lines that use guerilla marketing campaigns to ruthlessly point out the limitations of the existing homegrown Japanese cruise product.

The battle for domination of the Japanese cruise market has started. The West on one side and the Japanese traditional cruise lines on the other. A victor remains to be seen but will most certainly be decided before the end of the decade.

Clayton Shipping

The Art of Ship