Kumari Selja, the Union Minister for Tourism, announced the official launch of Aquamarine at a ceremony held on December 2 in Kochi to celebrate its inaugural sailing. Aquamarine is the first international cruise ship to homeport in India. According to Selja, there is tremendous scope for cruise tourism in the country, given India's strong domestic tourism sector, growing middle class and 7,517 kilometre long coastline.

Launched by Louis Cruises India, Aquamarine has a capacity to carry 1,200 passengers. It will offer itineraries on the Kochi-Maldives-Kochi and the Kochi-Colombo-Kochi routes, in addition to a one-night high sea-sailing itinerary.