Pacific Venus 

Pacific Venus seen entering the port of Amsterdam for the first time at the 14th of may 2004. It was the only time she has visited the Dutch capital.

Pacific Venus was built at the Ishikawajima Harime Heavy Industries wharf in Tokio, Japan. She was built under yardnumber 3095 and she was launched at the 29th of september 1997. In these years, several Japanese shipping companies started to add cruiseships to their fleets. Pacific Venus was built for Japan Cruise Line. This company is a part of the SHK Group, a joined venture between the Shin Nihonkai, Hankyu and Kanpu ferry companies. Her homeport was to be Osaka, and of course she flows the Japanese flag. The name of the ship is spelled in two different ways at her bow, above is the name of the ship as we know her in the west, down is the name written in Japanese.

In her marketing, the ship is named the 'paradise on the ocean' and she is the second largest passengership under the Japanese flag. The ship has a very casual dresscode and is mostly catering for elder Japanese passengers, although family-friendly cruises are also part of her package. Her decor is very roomy and she is decorated in many light colours and looks classic in several ways. Maybe her style can be called colonial and oriental combined.

The ship measures some 26.518 tons and she has a lenght of 183,40 meters. Her width is 25,91 meters and she has a draft of 6,50 meters. The ship can sail with up to 720 passengers, served by 180 crewmembers. There are 9 decks to be used by her passengersand the ships service speed lies somewhere around 21 knots. Her design has feautures of the 1990-built  Delphin Voyager, that was built at the same wharf.

At the 31st of march 1998, the ship was delivered to her owners and her first cruise, a 40-day trip across eastern Asia departed from Tokio at the 12th of april that year. She was marketed under the banner of Venus Cruise and normally, the ship sails cruises around the Japanese isles. Next to that, she also undertakes world-cruises although she is seldom seen in Europe. In 2004, she visited Amsterdam though and of course several other European ports.

At the 20th of february of 2010, a 24-year old crewmember from the ship was reported missing while Pacific Venus sailed the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Yokohama. The ship returned to the place where she sailed when he was last seen and the search lasted several hours. The US coastguard assisted in the seach, and they also deployed two long-range search aircraft. Also, the Japanese ship Nippon Maru assisited, but the man wasn't found. In january 2013, to celebrate the ships' 15th year of operation, she sailed a 42-day cruise in the Indian Ocean and Asia, the exact same voyage as she sailed just after her introduction in 1998.