Sapphire Princess

Sapphire Princess is a cruise ship owned by Princess Cruises that entered service in 2004 as the sister ship of Diamond Princess. At the time she was one of the largest cruise ships in the world, with a capacity of 2,670 passengers, and she is the second Gem-class ship built by Princess Cruises. She was built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and the two sisters swapped names during construction: a major fire swept through the hull first meant to be Diamond Princess, so the other hull took that name to keep the delivery date. Christened on 10 June 2004, she was the first cruise ship ever christened in Seattle. Her diesel-electric plant combines four Wärtsilä 46 series diesel generators with a gas turbine generator and feeds two propulsion electric motors that drive fixed-pitch propellers. She began service on the United States West Coast, has since sailed from Australia, Asia and Southampton, and in June 2023 helped rescue 51 passengers and 16 crew from the expedition ship Wilderness Discoverer in Glacier Bay.