AIDAnova Delivered

Posted on 13 December, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Corporation has welcomed AIDA Cruises’ new AIDAnova into its fleet today at a celebration in Bremerhaven, Germany, as the world’s first cruise vessel to be powered at sea and in port by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

“AIDAnova is a milestone for our company and the entire cruise industry,” said Michael Thamm, group CEO of Carnival Corporation’s Costa Group – which includes AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises – and Carnival Asia. “With Carnival Corporation pioneering LNG technology, we start a new era of environmentally friendly cruising. It’s important now that the respective infrastructure will be further developed as more and more cruise lines are following our example.”

The largest cruise ship ever built at a German shipyard, AIDAnova also marks an exciting new generation of ships for AIDA Cruises.

AIDAnova set sail today for the Canary Islands to welcome its inaugural guests at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, embarking on December 19 for a seven-day holiday cruise around the Canary Islands and Madeira.

“I am so pleased about this extraordinary ship, which is another milestone on our steady path to providing sustainable cruises,” said Felix Eichhorn, president of AIDA Cruises, at today’s handover event. “AIDAnova will offer guests entirely new experiences onboard through the further development of the innovative ship designs of AIDAprima and AIDAperla, and many other successful products in the AIDA fleet. With an extraordinary variety of individual vacation options, exciting entertainment and new wellness, fitness and culinary offerings, we are providing new and exciting reasons for people to enjoy a cruise vacation, one of the vacation industry’s fastest-growing sectors.”

In 2021 and 2023, two additional ships from the new AIDA Cruises generation of vessels will join the AIDA fleet, in addition to new LNG-powered ships on order for Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises in the UK, and Carnival Cruise Line and Princess Cruises.

Following today’s launch of AIDAnova, Carnival Corporation has an additional 10 next-generation “green” cruise ships on order that will be powered by LNG.

Carnival Corporation to Operate Santa Cruz de Tenerife Cruise Terminal in Canary Islands

Posted on 4 December, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Corporation today announced an agreement with the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife following a Board of Directors meeting presided by Pedro Suárez López de Vergara to be the first concession-holder to operate the Canary Islands’ and Mid Atlantic’s newest cruise terminal.

The terminal can accommodate “green” ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will welcome AIDAnova, from the corporation’s Germany-based AIDA Cruises brand, on its maiden voyage in December, Carnival said.

Welcoming 617,987 cruise passengers in 2017, Santa Cruz de Tenerife is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Canary Islands, the seven-island Spanish archipelago off the coast of Africa and Spain.

Carnival Corporation also manages two other cruise terminals in Spain – the Helix and Palacruceros facilities in Barcelona.

Seven brands from Carnival Corporation – AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and P&O Cruises UK – make port calls to Tenerife during the course of the year. Carnival Corporation expects to bring more than 300,000 passenger visits to the port in 2018 – half of all cruise passenger visits – with 130 calls by 31 different ships from the company’s cruise line brands.

“Carnival Corporation has long been a valued partner with the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Canary Islands, and we are confident that they will be a wonderful steward of our recently built cruise port,” said Pedro Suárez López de Vergara, president of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. “Thanks in large part to Carnival Corporationships, the cruise market generated an economic impact to the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the city of Santa Cruz of €24 million ($27.1 million) in the 2018 cruise season, an increase of €6m from the 2017 cruise season, and we look forward to continuing to share our beautiful island with visiting cruise passengers coming through this cruise terminal.”

The Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife celebrates this long-term agreement with the aim of extending the benefits to its other ports – Santa Cruz de La Palma, San Sebastián de La Gomera, La Estaca in El Hierro and Los Cristianos in Tenerife.

“This concession and our ongoing investment is part of Carnival Corporation’s long-term strategy to continue to develop the cruise industry in the Canary Islands,” said Giora Israel, senior vice president of global port and destination development for Carnival Corporation. “Our passion is to always provide the best possible experiences for our guests, and Tenerife is an extremely popular destination that offers something for everyone – including a storied history, beautiful beaches, exotic gardens, unique crafts and memorable cuisine. We look forward to ensuring that our cruise guests coming through the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife have a great experience, and we also look forward to expanding relationships with our friends in Tenerife.”

Santa Cruz Terminal joins eight global ports and terminals already operated by Carnival Corporation and its cruise line brands, including:

Barcelona (Helix & Palacruceros terminals) in Spain
Savona in Italy
Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic
Puerta Maya in Cozumel, Mexico
Grand Turk Cruise Center in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Mahogany Bay in Roatan, Honduras
Long Beach in California

New Technology: Carnival LNG Bunkering

Posted on 13 July, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

With the AIDAnova slated to start regular service in the Canary Islands in December, Carnival Corporation has been working on the LNG bunkering processes and procedures not only for the new AIDA ship but also for the Costa and Carnival ships that will follow.

Carnival has contracted Shell to supply AIDA and Costa with LNG in Northern and Southern Europe and Carnival in Southern Florida. A bunkering solution for P&O’s new ships, which will also be LNG-fueled, was in the discussion stage, according to Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs.

“Because of the volume we are going to consume, LNG will be supplied by a bunker vessel,” he continued. “Shell already has a bunker vessel, the Cardissa based out of Rotterdam, and has another vessel under contract that is currently being adapted to bunkering.

“There are only six bunkering vessels for LNG in the world of which two will be dedicated to our trade going forward.”

A barge is under construction for bunkering in South Florida that will be ready by the first quarter of 2021.

The LNG capacity of the new cruise ships will be 3,620 cubic meters in three tanks, Strang said. “The typical maximum bunkering load we can take will be just over 3,000 cubic meters which should take from six to 10 hours, a little bit longer than traditional bunkering, but not significantly so.”

The ships will be dual fuel, meaning that will also carry MGO onboard as a pilot fuel and also to satisfy the safe return to port requirements.

In order to bunker, Shell needs approval permits in every port, Strang explained. He described it as a complex process where Shell has to run risk and hazard assessments together with the ports and authorities, unlike bunkering HFO or MGO that do not require a similar approval process.

“As part of the process we have gone through with Shell we have developed a very specific bunkering protocol,” Strang said.

The cruise line’s class society must also approve the procedures as must the class society for the bunkering vessel along with the port and local authorities before permits are granted.

Strang added: “If we had waited until the infrastructure was there before placing orders we would only now be thinking about possible orders. We took the view that this is the best fuel available for environmental performance and a number of other reasons, and then we entered into partnerships to build the infrastructure when and where we need it.”