Tag Archives: German cruise line

Aida Cruises aims to start sailing again in November

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AIDAmar | Built by MEYER WERFT

German cruise line Aida has extended the suspension of cruises until November when it plans to restart operations with a Canary Islands itinerary.

The Carnival Corporation brand has cancelled its previously announced cruises for September and October and updated its autumn-winter programme because of Covid-19 restrictions.

It said in a statement on Friday: “Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the conditions are currently not in place in Germany’s neighbouring European countries, especially in the north with Norway and Denmark or the Baltic states.

“For many distant destinations outside of Europe, the Federal Republic of Germany has issued a travel warning or the respective countries have prohibited calls of cruise ships until 2021.”

The first ship to begin sailing, Aidamar, will depart on November 1 for seven-day voyages around the Canary Islands, a destination popular with German cruisers.

Aidaperla will follow on November 7 and will take over itineraries originally planned for Aidanova (pictured).

Aidastella will start cruises in the western Mediterranean on December 12, launching from Majorca.

Aidaprima will offer cruises from Dubai from December 11 and from Abu Dhabi from December 15.

Felix Eichhorn, president of Aida Cruises, said: “Even though it is currently not possible for cruise ships to call at Norway, which is so important for our voyages to the north, we are confident that the first Aida ships from Germany will be able to travel to northern Europe again at the beginning of 2021.”

Aida Cruises is also cancelling autumn-winter cruises to destinations in the Caribbean, southern Africa, Indian Ocean and the Far East.

Keel Laid for Mein Schiff 2

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Jan Meyer and the new crane at Meyer Turku
Meyer Turku shipyard

The keel for the new Mein Schiff 2 was laid today at the Meyer Turku shipyard. This important production milestone marks the beginning of the hull assembly, the yard said.

She will be a sixth ship build by Meyer Turku for TUI Cruises. Delivery is scheduled for early 2019.

The new Mein Schiff 2 will be a sister ship to new Mein Schiff 1, which will be delivered from Meyer Turku  in the spring of 2018.

The new class will be 20 meters longer (315m) than Mein Schiff 6. Both ships will have space for 2,894 guests.

Keel Laying

TUI Cruises CEOs Wybcke Meier and Frank Kuhlmann were present at the keel laying and were one of the VIP guests to weld coins under the keel of the ship.

“It is always great to visit the shipyard and to see the progress with our coming ships. With new Mein Schiff 1 and 2 we will get two great new ships to lead our fleet in the coming years. We are very happy to see how these ships are taking form,” said Meier.

Of note hte yard is also adding a new massive gantry crane to help speed up cruise ship production times.

Looking down at the Meyer Turku yard

“We have just floated out the newly developed New Mein Schiff 1 and will now begin directly assembling its sister, New Mein Schiff 2, from pre-produced grand blocks. It shows the increasing pace that we are working at, while at the same time implementing our large investment program with the large goliath gantry crane being only one example of it. Working on our ships and our capabilities will prepare us for the increasing international competition,” added Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.

 

Arson Might Be The Cause Of The Fire On AIDA’s Newest Cruise Ship In the Shipyard

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Arson is being investigated as the cause of a cruise ship fire at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.’s shipyard in Nagasaki early Sunday, the third such incident to strike in January.

 

According to local police and firefighters, a worker at the Koyagi plant of MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, found cardboard and insulation material ablaze aboard the 124,500-ton AIDA Prima, which is one of two ships it is building German cruise line AIDA Cruises.

 

Firefighters said workers quickly put out the fire and no injuries were reported.

 

Sunday’s incident follows an electrical wiring fire near a theater space on Jan. 11, and a cabin fire involving a piece of cloth on Jan. 13.

 

The fires came after delivery of the ship, originally planned for March 2015, was repeatedly delayed amid design changes. The current delivery deadline is this April.