AIDA Cruises Marks Steel Cutting for First in Series of LNG-Powered Newbuilds

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday February 21, 2017

AIDA Cruises today announced that the company's president, Felix Eichhorn, as well as the Director of German shipyard Meyer Werft GmbH (Meyer Werft), Bernard Meyer, performed the symbolic first steel cutting for the first in a series of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered newbuilds set to be built for the company.

AIDA Cruises says the vessel will be the world's first cruise ship able to run completely on LNG.

"With the start of construction of the first LNG cruise ship in the world, we are not only setting standards for the future in terms of eco-friendliness," said Eichhorn at the ceremony.

"Thanks to the further development of the innovative ship design and a large number of successful product innovations of the existing AIDA fleet, we will be opening up totally new worlds of experience to our guests on board our ships in the future."

As Ship & Bunker previously reported, with the addition of a further three newbuild orders, Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival) has a total of seven new LNG-powered cruise ships on order across four of its 10 cruise brands, with the first of these set to be delivered to AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.

AIDA Cruises says that the "Green Cruising" concept with which the vessel is designed will allow the AIDA Cruises to become the first cruise shipping to be able to operate its new generation of ships on 100 percent LNG.

"We are very proud to be driving forward this quantum leap in the area of environmental protection together with AIDA Cruises," said Meyer.

"The successful development of this new and sophisticated ship class for AIDA Cruises shows what a good team spirit, the consistent pursuit of a common goal and committed people can bring about."

Last month, AIDA Cruises, at the "Making LNG Happen: Combining Forces for Sustainable Shipping" trade conference in Rotterdam, urged ports and LNG producers to support the use of LNG as marine fuel.