A search is under way off the Kent coast after reports of a crew member falling overboard from a cruise ship.
The coastguard was alerted at about 09:00 BST on Sunday after the man disappeared from the German vessel AIDAperla off Ramsgate.
The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was sent from Lydd alongside a fixed-wing aircraft.
The RNLI sent all-weather lifeboats from Ramsgate and Dover to join the search.
The AIDAperla was travelling from Hamburg in Germany to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the cruise company has confirmed.
A spokesman for AIDA Cruises said: “The captain and crew of AIDAperla immediately initiated all necessary rescue measures, in close co-ordination with the local authorities.
“The search on board confirmed that a male crew member is missing. The ship was immediately stopped and returned to the spot where the incident was believed to have taken part in the search.”
Two AIDA Cruises ships are resuming service after routine drydocks.
Following her drydock at Lloyd Werft, the AIDAdiva will start on her first voyage from Warnemünde to the Norwegian fjords on Saturday, May 14, 2022.
From April 25 to May 12, 2022, several areas of the ship were redesigned in addition to regular class and maintenance work, the company said. It’s just one of many cruise ship drydocks this year, as outlined in the 2022 Drydock and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.
New aboard is the restaurant Almhütte, featuring dishes from the Alpine region and various beer specialities in a cosy hut atmosphere.
Wellness lovers can look forward to another novelty at the Body & Soul Spa: The entire wellness oasis has been expanded to include a spacious outdoor area where guests can relax and unwind with a view of the sea. In addition, the fitness equipment has been replaced by the latest generation of equipment.
The AIDAperla will end its three-week shipyard stay at Damen in Rotterdam on Saturday, May 14, 2022, and set off for Hamburg.
The first guests will embark on the Hanseatic city on Monday, May 16, 2022, for sailing to Norway.
AIDA said the ship received a visual makeover.
One key highlight is a new ice cream bar, plus a refreshed spa, the company said. After three weeks in drydock, there is also a new fashion accessories store in the shopping area ahead of the ship’s summer season of 10-day Norwegian fjord cruises from Hamburg.
AIDA Cruises has denied that it had plans to use its 2,030-passenger ship AIDAbella as a ”quarantine ship” for crew members.
“No, this is not true,” AIDA’s press department told Cruise Industry News. “There are no concrete plans for the AIDAbella now.”
An article by the German website moin.de stated that the AIDAbella was being transformed into a quarantine ship for 1,500 crew members. The quarantine was supposed to take place in Kiel, Germany. According to moin.de, those onboard would be crew members for the AIDAcosma which is set to debut later this year.
“The latest ship in the AIDA fleet (the AIDAcosma) is to be put into operation in Bremerhaven in December. However, before the crew can start their work on the cruise ship, they have to go into isolation because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And that’s what AIDAbella is intended for,” the website wrote.
The AIDAcosma, AIDA Cruises’ latest ship, was floated out at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany in July. Initially scheduled for a spring 2021 debut, the AIDAcosma’s debut is now set for later this year. With the change, the vessel’s inaugural season in Europe was entirely cancelled and the first voyage was rescheduled to Dec. 22, 2021.
AIDA Cruises’ nearest deployment plans include AIDAdiva’s launching of the 2021 season on Oct. 16, becoming the eighth AIDA ship to restart commercial cruises.
On March 20, 2021, the AIDAperla became the first AIDA ship to restart cruise operations after the pandemic – initially around the Canary Islands and, since July 10, from Palma de Mallorca with seven-day cruises in the western Mediterranean. On May 21, the AIDAsol followed from Kiel, becoming the first ship to resume cruise operations from a German port. On May 22, the AIDAblu began cruises to Greek destinations from/to Corfu.
The AIDAprima resumed cruises from/to Kiel – and visiting Stockholm, Gothenburg and Visby – on July 10. In the course of this, AIDAsol moved to Rostock/Warnemünde, where Baltic Sea voyages have been on the program since July 1.
On July 29, the AIDAstella, the fifth ship of AIDA Cruises, set sail again. Two days later, on July 31, the first seven-day voyage with the AIDAmar departed from Hamburg, Germany. From Aug. 28, the AIDAmar sailed to Norway for the first time after the pandemic with fully-vaccinated cruises (or for those who can prove that they have recovered from the coronavirus).
On Sept. 5, 2021, the AIDAluna became the seventh ship in the AIDA fleet to start its season – the latest AIDA ship to resume operations.
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