The world’s first LNG-fueled cruise ship, AIDAnova, arrived in the Port of Barcelona last week. Germany-based AIDA Cruises and numerous representatives from politics, port-related businesses and tourism celebrated Friday the ship arrival.
Upon arrival in Europe’s biggest cruise port, AIDAnova was fueled for the first time in the Mediterranean with LNG.
Currently, alongside Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona is the second start-and- end destination for AIDAnova’s seven-day cruises in the Mediterranean.
With Carnival Corporation’s partnership with Shell, the cruise ship will be regularly supplied with LNG at the Spanish metropolis.
Commissioned on 12 December 2008, with four dual-fuel engines and three gas tanks onboard, AIDAnova is the world’s first cruise ship that will be operated in port and at sea with low-emission LNG.
Two of the tanks each have a length of around 35 meters, a diameter of 8 meters and a capacity of 1,550 cubic meters. A third, smaller tank with a diameter of 5 meters, is 28 meters long and has a capacity of approximately 520 cubic meters.
It has been over 10 years since Carnival Corporation, parent company of AIDA Cruises, started investing in LNG propulsion technology. Two additional ships of this new AIDA generation will join the AIDA fleet in 2021 and 2023.
Carnival Corporation has shed focus on the adoption of LNG, with a total of 10 next-generation “green” cruise ships able to be powered by LNG in port and at sea on order with delivery dates between 2019 and 2025.
