| IMO | 9903504 |
|---|---|
| Gross tonnage | 5,315 GT |
| Length | 110 m |
| Beam | 16 m |
| Passenger capacity (double) | 100 |
| Crew | 76 |
| Builder | Halong Shipbuilding |
| Yard | Ha Long |
| Hull number | EW01 |
| Launched | 2020 |
| Maiden voyage | 2022 |
| Operator | Emerald Cruises |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Emerald Azzurra is the first ocean-going ship of Emerald Cruises, the brand through which Australia's Scenic Group extended its river-cruise business to the sea. Built by Halong Shipbuilding at Ha Long, Vietnam — the first luxury cruise ship built in that country — she is a 110 m, 100-guest vessel designed and marketed as an ocean-going superyacht: yacht styling, a marina platform, and a guest complement small enough to use harbours closed to conventional cruise ships. She entered service in 2022, following her sister-brand Scenic's path into ocean cruising set by Scenic Eclipse in 2019, but at half the size and aimed at warm-water, port-intensive cruising rather than polar expeditions.
Azzurra's registered tonnage is 5,315 GT, the figure recorded in the dataset from registry-derived sources; figures of 5,175 GT and about 5,300 GT also circulate in secondary sources and are noted in the dataset's assembly notes. The dataset deliberately carries no speed for this hull: a widely copied 22-knot figure was judged not credible for the ship and unsupported by a primary source, and it is not repeated here as fact.
Key specifications
The dataset records Emerald Azzurra at 5,315 GT, 110 m in length and 16 m in beam, with 100 guests at double occupancy and a crew of 76; her IMO number is 9903504 and her yard designation is EW01 — the first of the Emerald yacht series built at Ha Long. Her launched field is blank in the dataset; reporting consulted for this guide establishes that she was floated out at Ha Long on 5–6 December 2020 (the Croatian Register of Shipping records the launch on 5 December 2020; the line's float-out announcement was reported on 6 December), a date supplied here in prose and flagged for the dataset in the batch notes.
She has seven decks and 50 staterooms, more than 88 per cent of them with balconies, according to the line's delivery material. Crew figures in secondary sources vary between 64 and 76; the dataset carries 76, from its registry-derived ship record, and the variants are logged in the dataset notes rather than resolved by assertion here.
Design and construction
Azzurra was built by the Ha Long Shipbuilding Company at Ha Long City, Vietnam, under an arrangement that became the Scenic Group's signature shipbuilding model: the Vietnamese yard built the hull and installed the machinery, while the interior fit-out was managed directly by the Emerald project team, with the Croatian Register of Shipping as classification society. Steel cutting took place on 7 December 2019. She was floated out in December 2020 — the launch showing a substantially complete hull taking to the water by slipway, a traditional launch of a kind now rare for passenger ships — and completed sea trials in Ha Long Bay on 20–21 November 2021, trials the owner reported as exceeding design parameters for speed, noise, vibration and comfort.
Construction ran about six months behind the original schedule because of the pandemic. She was handed over in early February 2022 and departed Vietnam on her delivery voyage on 8 February 2022. The ship's design brief — superyacht lines, an aft marina platform for swimming and water sports, an infinity-style pool, infrared sauna and a high proportion of balcony suites in a 100-guest ship — set the template that her sister Sakara repeated and the later, larger Kaia developed.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
Azzurra — Italian for azure — was named for the colour of the sea her cruising was designed around. She was floated out at Ha Long in December 2020. Her entry into service slipped with the pandemic-delayed build: an inaugural sailing planned for 28 January 2022 was overtaken by the delivery timetable, and after handover she proceeded to board her first guests for an inaugural sailing from Aqaba in March 2022 (reported as 11 March 2022). The dataset records her maiden voyage as 2022, without a day or month. CruiseMapper's ship record names Sarah Wikevand as her christening sponsor.
Career by operator
Azzurra has been an Emerald Cruises ship from delivery — operated under the Emerald Yacht Cruises branding — with no other operator, name or charter in her record.
| Period | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 2022–present | Emerald Azzurra | Emerald Cruises |
Onboard character
Azzurra's onboard character is the superyacht concept translated into a classed passenger ship: just 100 guests in 50 suites, a crew-to-guest ratio no conventional ship of her tonnage attempts, and public spaces — a small number of dining venues, a wellness area with spa, gym and infrared sauna, and generous open deck — arranged for harbour-hopping rather than for sea-day entertainment. The aft marina platform is the design's signature: a base for swimming, paddleboards, SEABOBs and snorkelling directly from the ship at anchor, supported by tenders and a Zodiac for shore landings, and a fleet of e-bikes carried for use in port.
As the first of the type, she also carries historical weight within her own fleet: the decisions taken in her design — Vietnam build, in-house fit-out, 100-guest scale — became the Emerald programme's standard, repeated in Sakara and enlarged in Kaia.
Major refits and incidents
No major refits or incidents are recorded for Emerald Azzurra in the sources consulted at the time of writing. The principal disruption in her record is the pandemic-era delay to her construction and entry into service described above.
Sister ships and class
Azzurra's sister is Emerald Sakara (hull EW02, delivered 2023), built at the same Ha Long yard to essentially the same 110 m design. The enlarged Emerald Kaia (EW03, 2026) is a development of the same concept rather than a true sister, at 119.88 m and 7,232 GT. The dataset assigns Azzurra no formal class name, and the EW-series hull designations are the clearest statement of the family's lineage.
Fate and where she is now
Emerald Azzurra is an active ship in the Emerald Cruises fleet, recorded in the dataset with the status "Operating". Consistent with this directory's evergreen policy, no itinerary or deployment information is given. Her place in the record is as Emerald's first ocean ship, the first luxury cruise ship built in Vietnam, and the prototype of the Scenic Group's yacht-cruise programme.
Sources: https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Emerald-Azzurra-2098