AIDA Cruises new LNG-powered cruise ship enters services

The AIDAprima’s maiden voyage brings her to the Wilhelminapier at Cruise Port Rotterdam on 19 April.

In May, this German ship will start sailing every week between Hamburg, Southampton (London), Le

Havre (Paris) and Zeebrugge (Brussels). Cruises are booming in Germany. The number of German cruise

holidays has grown from 700,000 to 1,800,000 over the past ten years (figures from sector organization

CLIA).

The AIDAprima is one of the greenest cruise ships in the world. The ship – built at Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries in Nagasaki – features three MaK 12V M43C engines and one dual-fuel MaK M46DF engine

that can operate on LNG.

Mai Elmar, managing director of Cruise Port Rotterdam, has high expectations of the weekly sailings of

the AIDAprima: “Geographically speaking, we are the closest cruise terminal for North Rhine-Westphalia

and South Germany. It only takes two and a half hours for German people to get to Rotterdam. We

provide car parking facilities close to the motorway. They can use a shuttle bus service to go to the

terminal. We certainly expect the weekly sailings to signify a huge impulse for tourism in the town.”

With a length of 300 meters, the AIDAprima can accommodate 3,250 passengers. The ship is equipped

to provide fantastic entertainment for bad-weather destinations. It includes a covered beach, a skating

rink, slides and a climbing course. “The AIDAprima is a destination in itself. The passengers don’t

necessarily have to leave the ship at all to enjoy excellent entertainment,” according to Elmar.

NGS INDIA