AIDA Cruises has presented its sustainability report 2015 in Hamburg. With modern emissions filtration systems and two LNG-powered cruise[ds_preview] vessels ordered, the company sees itself at the forefront, when it comes to environmentally friendly shipping. Among the innovations within the company’s 100-mill.-€-programme expanding until 2016, there is the hybrid barge »Hummel«, Aida jointly developed with Becker Marine Systems, to supply »AIDAsol« at berth in the port of Hamburg. Furthermore »AIDAprima« along with four older vessels already has been equipped with an exhaust filter. The company says, the rest of the fleet is to be retrofitted also. Another field the company is researching, is power-to-gas technology, which uses superfluos energy from wind farms for electrolysis of water, generating hydrogen. Hydrogen interacting with CO2 produces methane (CH4), main component of natural gas.
While »AIDAprima«, whose delivery was delayed again because Mitsubishi’s Nagasaki yard cannot finish the vessel in time, is equipped with a MaK dual-fuel engine, an LNG storage tank is not on board yet. »We now have the necessary regulatory framework, to put gas tanks on board our new vessels«, says Monika Griefhahn, Director Environment and Society. Aida is now scheduling the ship for April 2016.
The subject of simultaneous operations remains a crucial point for LNG-powered ships. There still is no legal clarity on where and if passenger operations are allowed during the fuelling process. Since the bunkering of LNG takes a lot more time than of coventional fuel, this is a real problem. To date, every port has its own rules. »We hope there will be a solution by 2019, but we are very optimistic«, adds Griefhahn.
