AIDA Cruises Starts LNG Operation in Mediterranean Ports

November 27, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Following the first successful tests, AIDA Cruises begins gradually over the coming weeks with the regular operations for supplying AIDAperla with low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) while docked at the ports of Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France) and Civitavecchia (Italy). The company is also currently in discussion with authorities in Palma de Mallorca (Spain).

On average a cruise ship spends 40 percent of its operating time in while docked in port. Thanks to the use of a dual-fuel engine, AIDAperla can produce the power she requires while docked in port from liquefied natural gas. LNG is supplied at ports by an LNG truck.

With the use of liquefied natural gas to supply onboard power, the emission of nitrogen oxides is reduced by up to 80 percent, carbon dioxide emissions are cut by a further 20 percent. Particulate matter and sulfur oxides are almost entirely eliminated – an important contribution to improving air quality in some of the most important cruise ports of the Western Mediterranean.

The cruise company already tested the practical application of this innovative technology back in early 2016 with AIDAperla’s twin ship, AIDAprima. On May 7, 2016, following her christening in Hamburg, the world’s first LNG operation of a cruise ship was effected. Shortly after that, operations were also possible in the ports of Southampton (UK), Le Havre (France), Zeebrugge (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Netherlands). The cruise ship ended her Northern Europe season in mid-November 2017 after 18 months. In AIDAprima’s current cruise region, around the Canaries and Madeira, AIDA Cruises is working with local partners to organize the ship’s LNG supply in Funchal (Madeira, Portugal).

From fall 2018 AIDA Cruises will be taking the next step: with the commissioning of AIDAnova, the cruise company will be able to operate its new generation of ships entirely with LNG – both in port and at sea. A second, twin ship will reinforce the AIDA fleet from early 2021.

Apart from reducing emissions, increasing efficiency is a key criterion for environmentally-friendly ship operation. In the current edition of the sustainability report, AIDA cares, the company documents further progress that was achieved in 2016. For instance, thanks to a vast array of measures, it has been possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per person on board by 4.35 percent in year-on-year comparison. During the same period, water and energy consumption per person on board were cut by approximately 3.2 percent and approximately 1.8 percent respectively.

AIDA Cruises has published all the current information, data, facts and figures relating to its environmental commitment in its latest sustainability report, AIDA cares 2017, which is available at www.aida.de/aidacares.