SuperStar Aquarius
The SuperStar Aquarius is truly a ship and a half. First Lady, Barbara Bush christened the then Windward in Los Angeles during 1993. Below, the SuperStar Aquarius enters Singapore harbour in 2008 following a refit after being transfered to Star Cruises.
History
The SuperStar Aquarius was originally built as the Windward, the second in a two ship series for Norweigan Cruise Line (NCL). The Winward and her sister, Dreamward, were stubby, squat ships filling out 39,127 gross tons with a length of 190m (623 ft). A short 5 years after entering the cruise market, NCL had both ships sent to Lloyd Werft of Bremerhaven, Germany to be lengthened. Emerging from the extensive surgical procedure, the ships had gained a 39.8m (130 ft) mid-section. In the case of the Windward (now Aquarius), the volume added by the midsection increased her tonnage by 12,092. In the process she also acquired; 256 new cabins of which 12 were balcony cabins (6 each side) on Deck 11, the Marina Buffet restaurant on Deck 9 and 4 additional lifeboats (2 each side). These additions allowed her to carry 512 additional lower berth passengers increasing her passenger capacity by 29%.
In the photo below, the inserted mid section can be identified as the area from the "I" in the Star Cruises name aft to third chinese character. The two lifeboats above the chinese characters are the ones added during the extension.
Vital Statistics
Name: | SuperStar Aquarius (ex-Norwegian Wind, ex-Windward) |
IMO: | 9008421 |
Call Sign: | C6LG6 |
Builder: | Chantiers de l’Atlantique (France) |
Delivery: | May 4, 1993 |
Tonnage | 51,309 |
Length | 229.84m (754 ft) |
Beam | 32.1m (105 ft 4 in) |
Draft | 7.01m (23 ft) |
Passengers | 1,529 lower (1011 cabins), 2,156 max |
Propulsion: | 2 fixed propellers, 2 bow thrusters |
Speed: | 18 knots cruising (max 21) |
Another intersting physical feature which the SuperStar Aquarius's sister received was a hinged funnel and mast which could litterally be folded over to the decrease the overall height of the ship. This design feature allowed her sister to traverse the Keil Canal which connects the North Sea to the Baltic Sea thereby bypassing the need for a ship to sail around Denmark. On her sister, the Dreamward, the funnel hinges roughly in the middle of the red section of the funnel below.
Current & Future
NCL was purchased by Star Cruises in 2000 and shortly thereafter the fleet was systematically rationalized with new buildings going to NCL and older tonnage being transferred to Star. In 2007, the Norwegian Wind was transferred to Star Cruises and subsequently refurbished emerging from the refit as the SuperStar Aquarius. Adjusted for her new Asian clientele, the SuperStar Aquarius underwent two significant changes. The first was that a large portion of her public rooms were converted for use as gambling venues. And second, as Asians are superstitious (especially when gambling), her cabins were re-numbered to exclude the number 4. In Chinese, the number 4 means 'die', as in death. As a result, no cabins contain the number 4 except for those on the lowest passenger level which is deck 4.
Currently the SuperStar Aquarius is being deployed out of Hong Kong.
To see more images of the SuperStar Aquarius in Singapore, visit our gallery here.