The MV Aurora entered service in April 2000 and is owned and operated by P&O Cruises (now a part of Carnival Corporation). She was built by Meyer Werft in Germany and has a Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 76,152 tonnes and is 270 metres long, with a beam of 32.20 metres. Her draught of 7.9 metres means that she can enter and exit most commercial ports around the world without much difficulty. At full capacity, she can carry up to 1,950 passengers in 939 cabins and also carries around 850 crew.

Aurora is powered is provided by four MAN B&W engines generating 14,700 kW each, powering two 20,000kW STN AEG motors that are used for propulsion. This gives her a service speed of around 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h) , with peaks up to 26.5 (during 2007 World Cruise), even reaching 29 knots (54 km/h) in trials.


History

2000-2003

After entering service in May 2000, the ship suffered several setbacks. When being christened on 27 April 2000 by HRH Princess Anne, the champagne bottle did not break — a sign of bad luck among seafarers. She also suffered from engine problems during her maiden voyage, which was aborted after eighteen hours. In March 2001, she was involved in a rescue of eleven Russian seamen after their ship capsized and sank in the South China Sea. During the rescue attempt, her crew bravely battled horrendous weather in small rescue boats trying to rescue the Russian seamen and the vessel sustained propeller damage caused by floating debris. In July 2003, she...