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Innovative technology

Innovative technology

Technical innovations and the latest technology

We continuously reduce emissions and our consumption of resources through the research and use of innovative environmental and efficiency technologies. As a market leader, in the future we will also be expanding our pioneering role in the cruise industry.

AIDA Cruises consistently pursues the aims of organizing sustainable cruises, conserving resources and continuously reducing the emissions of its ships. With our research into and use of innovative and efficient technologies, we occupy a pioneering role in the German cruise industry and perform pioneering work in the use of low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as the use of green shore power.

AIDA Cruises: a pioneer in protecting the environment

The issue of protecting the environment is an increasingly important factor for many people when booking a holiday. It is our aim - and this is nothing new - to offer cruises that are as low-emission and as resource efficient as possible. We have put several years of continuous work and millions of euros each year into researching sustainable technologies and fitting them onto our ships. On the path to carbon-neutral cruises we have been performing pioneering work in developing alternative forms of energy production.

Using low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG)

In the engine control room of AIDAnova
In the engine control room of AIDAnova

Together with partners from the science and business sectors, for the last ten years and more we have focused on researching and using low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the cruise industry. Using LNG means emissions of particulates and sulfur oxides can be avoided almost entirely, while emissions of nitrogen oxides and CO2 are substantially reduced.

Back when the first two ships to be equipped with dual fuel engines, allowing them to be supplied with low-emission LNG in ports, were ordered in 2011, we took the most innovative technology available at the time into account in order to build cruise ships that would meet the highest requirements of energy-efficiency and eco-friendly ship operation.

AIDAprima and AIDAperla were commissioned in 2016 and 2017. We were able to test in practice the use of LNG on board a cruise ship during a layover for the first time. As part of this pilot project, over the last two years we have gathered valuable experience in dealing with this new drive technology, which was then incorporated into the design of AIDAnova - the world’s first cruise ship runs solely on low-emission LNG.

On December 12, 2018, its time had come: AIDAnova was brought into service, representing another technological leap for our company. Right from day one, the energy required to power AIDAnova was produced from liquefied natural gas. Thanks to a worldwide partnership with Shell, we have also been able to secure LNG supplies for future destinations. During its debut tour around the Canary Islands, AIDAnova was filled up every 14 days in the port of Tenerife by the bunker vessel Coral Methane, which is likewise run on LNG. Since switching to the western Mediterranean on April 26, 2019, AIDAnova now refuels on a 14-day cycle in the port of Barcelona.

The wealth of experience of our LNG experts is also flowing into the design of ten further LNG cruise ships ordered by the Carnival Corporation, which will be built by 2025 for the various cruise lines in the group at the WEYER WERFT in Papenburg (Germany) and Turku (Finland). AIDA Cruises alone will bring two more of these innovative cruise ships into service by 2023.

Using low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG)

How does the LNG supply work?

Shore power: a clean alternative during port operations

AIDAsol being supplied with shore power in Hamburg
AIDAsol being supplied with shore power in Hamburg

On average, a cruise ship in the AIDA fleet spends around 40 percent of its operational life in ports. The use of shore power to supply our fleet with energy is therefore a second important aspect in which AIDA Cruises has assumed a pioneering role over the last several years.

As far back as 2004, when AIDAdiva was ordered and constructed, shore power was an important issue for us regarding the use of environmental technology on board our ships. Ten of the ships in the AIDA fleet are either already fitted with a shore power connection or are technically prepared to be fitted with one.

Following the successful completion of the test phase, since 2017 we have been making regular use of shore power with AIDAsol in Hamburg Altona. In order to be able to make more extensive use of our eco-friendly shore power technology on board our ships in the future, port infrastructure must first be expanded further. This is why in 2018 we launched partnerships focusing on environmentally friendly cruise tourism with the regional governments of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, one of the aims of which is to build a shore power facility in the ports of Kiel and Rostock by 2020.
 

Advanced Air Quality Systems (AAQS)

For all the AIDA ships that cannot be run solely on LNG, the Advanced Air Quality System (AAQS) developed by the Carnival Group itself is currently the most eco-friendly alternative that can be used at sea to reduce ship emissions.

We began to retrofit the ships of the existing fleet with this exhaust gas cleaning system as far back as 2013. Eight of our AIDA ships were already fitted with it in 2018: AIDAprima, AIDAperla, AIDAdiva, AIDAluna, AIDAmar, AIDAvita, AIDAblu and AIDAbella.

It is our aim to equip all of the ships in the existing fleet built after the year 2000 that cannot be run solely on LNG with these modern systems with a view to improving air quality.

These systems can significantly reduce emissions of particulates, nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide. Emissions of carbon monoxide can be reduced by up to 70 percent and unburned hydrocarbons by 85 percent. These systems are also used successfully at destinations and ports around the world where AIDA Cruises has been granted the relevant permissions.

Retrofitting of an AIDA ship with a AAQS (Advanced Air Quality System)
Retrofitting of an AIDA ship with a AAQS (Advanced Air Quality System)
The latest environmental technology on board of the AIDA fleet
ENERGY AND EMISSION MANAGEMENT MEASURES