Meyer Werft Begins LNG Cruise Ship Build for AIDA
German shipbuilder Meyer Werft has laid the keel for AIDAnova, set to become the first cruise ship worldwide that will operate both at sea and in port fueled with liquefied natural gas (LNG).
With AIDAnova’s first building block lowered into place on September 6, 2017, Carnival Corporation & plc officially marked the start of construction of seven fully LNG powered cruise ships due to be commissioned between 2018 and 2022 for four of its 10 cruise ship brands. The seven vessels for Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Carnival UK and AIDA Cruises will be built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany and Turku, Finland.
Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation, together with Bernard Meyer, CEO Meyer Werft, Michael Thamm, CEO Costa Group and Carnival Asia, David Dingle, Chairman Carnival UK (P&O Cruises UK), Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises, and Felix Eichhorn, President of AIDA Cruises, – gave the official “full steam ahead” signal. Two trainees named Louisa Tröbner (AIDA Cruises) and Martin de Boer (Meyer Werft) placed the traditional lucky coin under the first of a total of 90 blocks.
“One of the main tasks AIDA Cruises sets itself is to make cruises sustainable,” Eichhorn said. “With AIDAnova and its sister ship, we are sticking to this course with our pioneering work. Thanks to our trailblazing “green cruising” design, the use of only LNG in the cruise industry will become a reality in 2018.”
“We thank Carnival Corporation and AIDA Cruises very much for their trust and their pioneering decision to implement LNG technology on board. The corresponding infrastructure is now being developed at numerous ports. Carnival has made a decision benefiting the environment that is highly important for the cruise industry,” says Bernard Meyer.
AIDAnova will be equipped with four dual-fuel engines, sailing on trips around the Canary islands for its premiere season starting in December 2018. Its twin ship with over 180,000 GT and 2,600 staterooms is set to be commissioned in the spring of 2021.
AIDAnova
Shipyard: Meyer Werft, Papenburg (Germany)
Keel laying: Monday, September 4, 2017
Commissioning: Fall 2018
Length: 337 meters
Width: 42 meters
Max. draft: 8.80 m
Gross tonnage: 183,900 GT
Decks: 20
Number of staterooms: 2,626 (21 different stateroom varieties), 31 suites, 1,655 balcony staterooms, 198 oceanview staterooms, 312 interior staterooms
Restaurants: 17
Bars: 23
Crew members: 1,500