The Sapphire Princess was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at its Nagasaki Yard for Carnival. The vessel has an overall length of 288.33m and a length between perpendiculars of 246m. The moulded breadth is 37.5m and the depth to the main deck is 11.4m. It is 41.3m to the sun deck (deck 15). The vessel has an 8.5m design draught. It registers 115,178gt and has a design deadweight of 10,343dwt.

PASSENGER FACILITIES

The ship’s facilities are spread over 18 decks, allowing it to accommodate 2,670 passengers. 70% of the ship’s cabins face outside, and more than 75% (750 cabins) have balconies.

The ship features a total of seven swimming pools and a tennis court. There is a conservatory containing one of the pools and a bar, with a balcony deck and sliding glass roof. There is also a Lotus spa with fitness centre and outdoor sunken terraced
pool. The hotel facilities include a number of main dining rooms, buffets / bistros, a sports bar and a casino. There is also a themed Explorers lounge, and an Internet cafe with 29 computer stations.

The teens’ and children’s area totals 9,686ft² of indoor and outdoor space, with a dedicated pool. There is also a nine-hole golf putting course.

WASTE DISPOSAL AND WATER TREATMENT

The ship’s waste disposal system is provided by Deerburg. This includes a waste compactor, shredder and incinerator. Hamworthy has also supplied a water treatment system.

PROPULSION AND POWER

The four main engines consist of a pair of Wartsila 8L46C units and two 8L46C engines. These each have an output of 9,450kW and 8,400kW respectively. The ship’s gas turbine is a kerosene-burning General ElectricLM2500+ unit with an output of 25,000kW.
This is fitted in the funnel.

The ship’s electric power is provided by a total of five alternators. These are two 11,440kVA and two 10,190kVA units, all diesel-driven, as well as a 31,250kVA alternator driven from the gas turbine. When in port, the system can be connected to the
shore-based power facilities, allowing the alternators and boilers to be shut down and therefore decrease air pollution.

The vessel propulsion comes from two Alstom 20,000kW engines. The shafts rotate at 145rpm. These are each connected to a fixed pitch propeller provided by MHI/Wartsila. Constructed out of nickel-aluminium-bronze, the propellers measure 5600mm in
diameter. A special adaptation to the propeller is a hub vortex-free cap. These give a service speed of 22.10 knots at 86% MCR.

For manoeuvring into port, there are three 2200kW bow thrusters as well as three 1,728kW stern thrusters, all manufactured by Wartsila.

The engine room and ship in general has a Consilliom Mare CS 3000 fire detection system. This triggers an automatic sprinkler system in the cabins and a CO2 and high pressure air mist system in the engine room.

WHEELHOUSE

The wheelhouse contains an STN Atlas NACOS 65-4 integrated bridge system as well as five radars, 1 S-band and 4 X-band units.

Sapphire Princess is classified by Lloyd’s Register under the notation +1001A (passenger ship) +LMC with CCS notation, NAV IWS.