New LNG-powered cruise ship starts to take shape. This is Carnival Corporation's first vessel in a new series of extremely environmentally friendly ships with reduced emissions.
Today the keel laying ceremony was held for the first block of the new cruise ship AIDAnova (S.696) for the German shipping company AIDA Cruises. The traditional lucky cent was placed under the first of altogether 90 blocks by the two trainees Louisa Tröbner (AIDA Cruises) and Martin de Boer (MEYER WERFT).
AIDAnova is the first of two new ships for the AIDA brand. Carnival Corporation has ordered another five ships in Papenburg and Turku. The AIDAnova will be setting new standards on the high seas with its modern LNG technology. The ships with a volume of more than 183,900 GT and capacity for more than 2,500 cabins each will be reinforcing the AIDA fleet at the end of 2018 and 2021. The ship's modern power plant was built at NEPTUN WERFT in Warnemünde. It is powered by four innovative, low-emission LNG engines by Caterpillar (Kiel/Rostock) for shipping and hotel operations.
"We are very grateful to Carnival Corporation and AIDA Cruises for the trust they have placed in our shipyard and for their pioneering decision to use LNG technology. The corresponding infrastructure is now being implemented in numerous ports. Carnival has thus taken a decision for the good of the environment that is of great significance for the cruise industry", says Bernard Meyer, managing director of MEYER WERFT shipyard.
“Our team will be working together with experts AIDA, Carnival, our affiliated companies such as Caterpillar and the classification society RINA to ensure that this is a successful step towards an environmentally friendly future of cruise ships”, adds Tim Meyer.
AIDAnova will leave MEYER WERFT in autumn 2018 for the North Sea and will then be handed over to the cruise company after a period of thorough trials. You can follow the construction of the new flag ship for AIDA Cruises both in the shipyard visitor centre and also on the internet at www.meyerwerft.com.
