MV Aurora (2000)

For other ships with the same name, see MV Aurora.

Aurora at anchor in the Santorini basin, showing post 2014 livery.
History
Name	Aurora
Owner	Carnival plc
Operator	P&O Cruises
Port of registry	London, U.K. (2000–2007) Hamilton, Bermuda (2007–present)
Builder	Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany
Cost	$375 million
Yard number	640
Laid down	15 December 1998
Launched	18 January 2000
Christened	27 April 2000
Maiden voyage	1 May 2000
Identification	Call sign: ZCDW9 IMO number: 9169524 MMSI number: 310556000
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	76,152 GT 8,486 DWT
Length	270.0 m (885 ft 10 in)
Beam	32.2 m (105 ft 8 in)
Draught	25.9 ft (7.9 m)
Decks	10
Installed power	4MAN B&W 14V48/60 14-cyl diesels 19,710bhp each. Approximate fuel consumption 300 litres per nautical mile at 24 knots.
Propulsion	Diesel-Electric
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Capacity	1,878 passengers (regular) 1,950 passengers (maximum)
Crew	850

MV Aurora is a cruise ship of the P&O Cruises fleet. The ship was built by Meyer Werft at their shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. At over 76,000 tonnes, Aurora is the smallest and oldest of six ships currently in service with P&O Cruises. She officially entered service with the company in April 2000 and was named by Anne, Princess Royal in Southampton, United Kingdom. Aurora was refitted in 2014, during which the ship is the first of P&O's ships to receive an updated British Union flag design on her bow and her funnel repainted from yellow to blue.

Specifications

Aurora's Atrium

Aurora is a mid-sized cruise ship, with an overall length of 270.0 metres (885 ft 10 in), moulded beam of 32.2 metres (105 ft 8 in) and draught of 7.90 metres (25 ft 11 in). Her gross tonnage is 76,152 and her deadweight tonnage is 8,486 tonnes. The ship can accommodate up to 1,878 passengers in 939 cabins, with a maximum crew complement of 936.

Aurora is powered by 4 four-stroke 14-cylinder MAN B&W 14V48/60 (48cm Bore, 60cm Stroke) medium-speed diesel engines with a total power output of over 78,800 BHP. These engines provide power for various ship's services and for two STN AEG propulsion motors. The propulsion motors drive two propellers, each of which measures 5.8 metres (19 ft 0 in) in diameter. Fuel consumption at 24 knots is around 300 litres of heavy oil per Nautical Mile. For manoeuvring, the ship has three bow thrusters and a stern thruster. The ship's service speed is 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), though during sea trials she reached a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

Aurora was designed to appeal to the British market, and was built as an extended and improved version of P&O Cruises' Oriana. The ship's hull and superstructure were designed to be attractive to this market with features similar to more traditional ocean liners, such as her raked, tiered stern.

Aurora docked in Dubrovnik in pre 2014 livery.

History

Construction and naming

Aurora was built by Meyer Werft in Germany. Her keel was laid in December 1998 and she was launched in January 2000. She was delivered to P&O Cruises in April 2000.

The ship was christened on 27 April 2000, by Princess Anne. The champagne bottle did not shatter when it hit the ship's side and fell unopened into the sea. This type of occurrence is considered a bad omen among seafarers, and this incident has been blamed for the numerous setbacks that Aurora has encountered throughout her career.

Maiden voyage

Aurora departed on her maiden voyage on 1 May 2000—a 14-night cruise to various Mediterranean destinations. The ship's crew identified a major technical problem, and the cruise was abandoned after 16 hours at sea. The cause was a propeller shaft bearing which had been damaged by overheating and required urgent repair while the ship was out of service.

On 3 May 2000, the ship returned to Southampton, where passengers disembarked. Passengers expressed disappointment about the incident but reported that they were mainly satisfied with P&O Cruises' response to the situation. P&O Cruises offered all passengers a full refund and compensation package, worth about GBP£6 million.

Aurora sailed to Blohm + Voss in Germany, where repairs were carried out. The ship returned to service on 15 May 2000, to undertake her second scheduled cruise to the Canary Islands.

Pamela Dream rescue effort

In March 2001, Aurora was sailing through the Taiwan Strait on her first world cruise when she was called to assist Pamela Dream, a Cambodian registered ship crewed by Russian officers and crew which had capsized in rough seas. Aurora launched her fast rescue boats to retrieve survivors from the water. The crew were able to retrieve three survivors. A crewmember described the sea state as "very rough, with waves of about 5 m (16 ft)". One of Aurora's propellers was damaged by flotsam, an inspection of the propeller was carried out in Singapore where it was polished by divers. The damaged propeller was eventually replaced in dry dock in Southampton in December 2002.

World Trade Center attack connection

On the morning of 11 September 2001, Aurora was positioned approximately 80 miles south of New York City and 20 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey while a conference of IT executives and vendors was occurring on board. The ship had embarked from Pier 88 in New York City on the evening of 9 September. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center that morning, there were concerns for the safety of the then British-owned ship. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and vessels briefly protected the Aurora until it was determined that the vessel was not in danger. The ship was planned to return to Manhattan on 12 September but due to the closure of New York Harbour the ship instead travelled at full speed to Boston to disembark its passengers before the Port of Boston shut also. Originally the U.S. Coast Guard requested that Aurora left US waters, but, with so many New York citizens aboard special dispensation was made to allow the ship into Boston to disembark US passengers. Many of the executives on board were from the banking and financial services industries, and it was estimated that as many as 50 executives worked in Tower 1 and Tower 2 of the World Trade Center and adjacent buildings. Reports from conference attendees were that several executives on board were in communication via cell phones with their staffs in both Towers 1 and 2 who eventually perished in the collapse of those buildings.

Norovirus breakout

During a cruise around the eastern Mediterranean in October 2003, over 500 passengers suffered stomach infections caused by the highly contagious Norovirus. During the outbreak, the ship's passengers were denied the right to land at Piraeus, Greece, as the ship was held in quarantine. Aurora departed from Piraeus on 31 October having loaded medical supplies.

MV Aurora moored adjacent to the Gibraltar Cruise Terminal on the Western Arm of the North Mole in Gibraltar Harbour.

On arrival in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a health inspector boarded the vessel and ordered the sick passengers to remain in their cabins "as a precautionary measure". Those unaffected by the virus were allowed to leave the ship. There was uncertainty as to whether the ship would be allowed to dock in Gibraltar, the next scheduled port.

Aurora was allowed to dock in Gibraltar on 3 November. A small number of passengers who were still recovering were required to stay on board. Passengers who went ashore were required to leave their passports behind. One passenger had died from a heart attack, unrelated to the norovirus breakout. The Spanish government decided to close the border between Gibraltar and Spain on advice from its health ministry. It was reopened a few hours after Aurora departed from Gibraltar. The incident caused some diplomatic tension between the United Kingdom and Spain.

Aurora returned to Southampton on 6 November, where passengers disembarked. There was a widespread expression of disappointment, with some passengers threatening legal action against P&O Cruises. P&O Cruises said that while they would not offer a standard compensation package, cases would be considered individually.

World cruise 2005

In January 2005, Aurora began a 103-day world cruise with more than 1,700 passengers on board. While bound for Madeira, the ship repeatedly had problems with one of the propulsion motors. Since the problems could not be solved quickly, the world cruise was abandoned. During the ship's time waiting in Southampton, passengers were offered free drinks in the onboard bars and were able to exit the ship at any time. Passengers were also permitted to cancel their booking for a full refund. After P&O Cruises cancelled the cruise, the company donated all of the food purchased for the trip to local charities around Southampton. Aurora set sail for a dry dock in Bremerhaven, Germany, where her damaged motor would be removed and replaced.

The planned world cruise hence affectionately became known as a voyage around the Isle of Wight or "the largest ever Isle of Wight ferry". The cruise was also dubbed the "World Booze Cruise" as the Company offered free drinks, free excursions and a 50 percent discount for the 2007 World Cruise after reimbursing all the fares for the 2005 World Cruise. P&O Cruises also arranged for entertainers such as Elaine Paige and Paul Daniels to come on board.

The cancellation of the cruise is reported to have cost the company GBP £25 million.

World cruise 2009

During the 2009 World Cruise, Aurora again experienced problems with her propulsion system shortly after leaving Sydney, Australia. The ship continued to Auckland, New Zealand, to undergo repairs. The ship left Auckland for Hawaii on 12 March 2009. More than 600 passengers on the 93-night cruise attended an emergency meeting and formed a protest committee after the ship failed to dock at three ports in New Zealand and at two Pacific Islands. While P&O Cruises made offers of compensation, some passengers branded these offers "derisory" and threatened legal action against the company.

MV Aurora docked in Manila, Philippines in February 2014

Refits

P&O Cruises MV Aurora at anchor in the Santorini basin.

In 2014, Aurora was repainted in P&O's new house livery with a stylised Union Flag on the bows, and the funnel painted blue instead of the customary P&O yellow.

She underwent a further dry dock refurbishment during March and April 2019.

2020 pandemic

During the 2020 coronavirus layoff, the vessel spent some time anchored off Bournemouth.

References

Bibliography

• Frame, Chris; Cross, Rachelle (2018). Aurora: A Photographic Journey. Stroud, UK: The History Press. ISBN 9780750985826.
• Poole, Sharon; Sassoli-Walker, Andrew (2012). Oriana & Aurora: Taking UK Cruising into a New Millennium. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445604428.
• Smith, Brian David (2012). Aurora & Oriana: P&O Cruises' Distinctive British Liners. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Lily Publications. ISBN 9781906608460.

External links

• Aurora on P&O Cruises website
• Profile and tour of Aurora on beyondships.com
• "AURORA – P&O’s Final Passenger Ship" – review by Peter Newall in Maritime Matters