ALMACO to Deliver Provision Stores for AIDA Newbuilds
German shipyard Meyer Werft has awarded ALMACO Group the newbuilding contract for provision stores and fast thawing chambers for the next ship generation of AIDA Cruises, which are expected to be delivered end of 2018 and 2021.
ALMACO’s scope of work involves a total of 2,600 square meters of provision stores, as well as nine fast thawing chambers (FTC).
The FTC is an ALMACO-engineered system that supports a much faster thawing period on less thawing surface, providing a thawing capacity of 750 kg for each room for 12 hours, therefore allowing for 6,750 kg in thawing capacity per 24 hours. ALMACO has delivered FTCs in previous AIDA Cruises newbuilds, AIDAprima and AIDAperla.
ALMACO said it has been involved in the construction of the food handling areas for AIDA Cruises’ new ships since the early 2000s, delivering catering systems to AIDA’s newbuilds at both Meyer Werft and Mitsubishi. ALMACO’s deliveries started with the pantries onboard AIDAvita in 2002, through the galleys, pantries, bars and provisions stores to AIDAstella in 2012.
When AIDA Cruises moved the construction of AIDAprima and AIDAperla to Japan, ALMACO was prepared to apply the company’s Mobile Shipyard Concept, bringing knowledge and supervision to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki, Tategami and Koyagi yards. ALMACO’s scope of work on AIDAprima, the first ship of the series, consisted of the design, supply, delivery and commissioning of all equipment or the galleys, pantries, bars, buffet areas, the refrigeration plant for the provision stores and the galley refrigerators. Both vessels also feature ALMACO’s catering innovations including REM (refrigeration equipment ,onitoring) system, which monitors and controls all refrigerated systems through a unique intuitive and user-friendly interface, as well as the FTC.
The company’s scope of work for the second vessel, AIDAperla, included the same food catering areas package and was increased on two occasions to include the installation of modular cabins plus the interior and background outfitting, initially covering 20,000 square meters and later an additional 12,000 square meters. The extension of the scope of work to include the accommodation areas demonstrates ALMACO’s complete interior building and modernization capabilities.
As AIDA Cruises returns with the construction of the next ship generation to Meyer Werft in Germany, so does ALMACO. These newbuilds are the first cruise vessels in the world to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
