AIDAprima LNG Test Run Successful

The cruise ship AIDAprima has successfully completed a test run burning LNG in Hamburg port. 

As well as dual-fuel engines, the vessel features two shore-side power supplies and is the world's first passenger ship with an onboard three-step system for exhaust after treatment. Nitrogen oxides are chemically bound in a catalytic converter, soot and fuel residues are precipitated in a filter system, and sulfur oxides are removed in a scrubber. 

AIDAprima is also the first cruise ship in the world to feature the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System to reduce hull friction.

Compared to AIDAstella, the newest ship of the last AIDA generation, AIDAprima uses around 20 percent less operating power per person. This is due in part to hydrodynamic optimization that included a perpendicular bow. 

AIDAprima was successfully christened in Hamburg on Sunday. A music and light show followed by fireworks turned the night sky over the Port of Hamburg's festival promenade into a glittering sea of color for the event. AIDAprima was accompanied by AIDAaura for the occasion.

AIDAprima was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vessel is 300 meters (985 feet) long, has a width of 37.6 meters (123 feet), a draft of eight meters and a gross tonnage of 124,500 tons. It is fitted with three MaK 12V M43C main engines and one MaK M46DF dual-fuel marine engine. The propulsion system includes two Azipod XO propulsion systems supplied by ABB.

AIDAprima is the first cruise ship to be deployed from a German port year round. It has the capacity for 3,300 passengers and 900 crew.

The preparations and initial permit procedures that will enable AIDAPrima to burn LNG in the port of Rotterdam are already underway, and Southampton, Le Havre and Zeebrugge authorities have also given their approval.
  
Aida’s next generation of ships, which will be put into service in 2019 and 2020, will run entirely on LNG.