The first large cruise ship bunkered with blended marine biofuel making the latest expansion of biofuel which drew wide support in the shipping industry.
The bunkering took place with Carnival Corp.’s AIDA Cruises aboard AIDAprima and provides a blueprint for the cruise sector's adoption of alternative fuels.
AIDA Cruises has long been the pioneer within Carnival Corp. & plc. testing made of the new concepts for alternative power. The 125,500 GT AIDAprima became the first cruise ship in the world to use LNG as a fuel when she was introduced in 2016. Built by Japan’s Mitsubishi shipyard, the liner has MaK engines from Caterpillar including a dual-fuel 12V motor capable of powering the vessel in port. The cruise line used this as testing for LNG power fueling AIDAprima with LNG from tank trucks in ports like Hamburg. While AIDAprima and her sistership AIDAperla don't have LNG storage tanks onboard they paved the way for the 2018 introduction of AIDAnova - the first cruiser capable of sailing on LNG.
The 981-feet AIDAprima was fueled with a blended biofuel made from 100% sustainable raw materials like waste cooking oil, and MGO (marine gas oil) during her layover in Rotterdam (Netherlands) on Thursday, July 21. The fuel was supplied by Dutch biofuel company GoodFuels. The companies said that their cooperation would be developed on a long-term basis.
AIDAprima is currently sailing on 7-day voyages from Hamburg (Germany) with calls in Southampton UK, Le Havre (Paris, France), and Zeebrugge (Bruges, Belgium).