AIDA Cruises and Hamburg confirm long-term cooperation

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AIDA Cruises and the Hanseatic City of Hamburg set course for additional progress sooner or later collectively. To this finish, the cruise firm signed a long-term settlement (LTA) with the Hamburg Port Authority on September 1, 2023. With this settlement, AIDA underscores its dedication to the Hanseatic metropolis and ensures ship and passenger volumes for one more 5 years. For greater than 20 years, AIDA, the German market chief within the cruise sector, has been a daily visitor on the river Elbe with its ships, and has attracted lots of of hundreds of vacationers to town with 5 ship inaugurations. In addition, the corporate has been a sponsoring companion of main maritime occasions, such because the Hamburg Harbour Birthday and the Hamburg Cruise Days, for a couple of decade. With 124 calls in 2023, AIDA is the Port of Hamburg’s largest cruise buyer and an vital financial issue for the metropolitan area.

The cruise firm and town laid the muse for sustainable improvement in Hamburg seven years in the past, when Europe’s first shore-side energy plant went into operation on the Cruise Center Altona.

Felix Eichhorn, President AIDA Cruises, explains: “We have been the primary cruise line to start out utilizing shore energy in Europe. Since 2017 till at present, AIDAsol has been recurrently buying shore energy yr after yr throughout her calls at Altona. As a long-standing companion of the Port of Hamburg, we’re blissful to help the Hamburg Port Authority with our expertise and experience in each the shore- and ship-side integration exams and for the opening of the brand new facility on the Steinwerder cruise terminal.

Senator for Economic Affairs Dr. Melanie Leonhard: “When a cruise ship enters or leaves the Port of Hamburg, it is an impressive and often unforgettable moment. This is true not only for the passengers on board, but also for the many spectators watching from the shore. The cruise industry makes an important contribution to adding value and employment in and around our port. Hamburg is one of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe and a pioneer in sustainability issues such as the expansion of shore power. Together with AIDA Cruises, we want to further develop our partnership and thus also Hamburg as a cruise location in a sustainable manner.”

Jens Meier, CEO HPA: “AIDA Cruises has made a significant contribution to the fact that we will probably reach the magic number of one million passengers this year. We don’t want to rest on our laurels, but rather continue to work on it together – also with regard to our joint commitment in the area of sustainability.”

AIDA Cruises has been contemplating using shore energy within the planning and development of its ships since 2004. On the shore aspect, one other ten years handed earlier than Europe’s first shore energy facility was opened in Hamburg Altona in 2017 and AIDA was capable of begin common operations. Since 2021, AIDA ships have additionally been ready to make use of shore energy from renewable energies in Kiel and Rostock-Warnemünde. Thanks to the opening of further amenities in Europe, the corporate expanded its use of shore energy to ports in Norway, the United Kingdom, and Denmark final yr and this yr. In most of the ports, AIDA was a key companion within the pilot section and commissioning course of. By utilizing shore energy, AIDA ships can cut back their engine emissions to nearly zero whereas at berth.

As a part of its Green Cruising Strategy, AIDA Cruises has been investing in a sustainable cruise market for a few years and actively helps the European Union’s objective of building a shore energy infrastructure in all main EU ports by 2030. In addition to using liquefied pure fuel (LNG) as an vital bridging know-how, AIDA Cruises is increasing using various vitality sources resembling shore energy or batteries to function its cruise ships. Together with numerous companions, the cruise firm is working intensively on additional options for utilizing gas cells or regenerative and artificial fuels sooner or later and is placing them into observe. As a part of Carnival Corporation & plc, AIDA Cruises goals to cut back carbon depth by 20% by 2026 in comparison with 2019 and aspires to attain web carbon-neutral ship operation of its fleet by 2050.

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