Marine Biofuel Debut for Carnival’s AIDA Cruises' Ship in the Netherlands

AIDA Cruises, Carnival’s wholly-owned subsidiary, has reportedly started using biofuels as part of the efforts to cut down on CO₂ emissions. Such a move forms part of the firm’s Green Cruising Strategy.

AIDAprima is the firm’s first-ever larger-scale cruise ship that got bunkered with marine biofuel. The blend of biofuel is made with 100% sustainable raw materials like waste cooking oil and marine gas oil (MGO).

The bunkering was done when the vessel was as its stopover at the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

GoodFuels, the pioneer of Dutch biofuel, is the cooperation partner of the project.

Currently, AIDAprima cruises between Norway and Hamburg on seven-day trips to Western Europe’s metropolises.
The project includes the commissioning of an onboard battery storage system named the AIDAprima. The latter boasts a capacity of 10MW hours. The project also incorporates the installation of a fuel cell on the AIDAnova vessel.

Besides, future plans will witness the AIDAprima expand and increase the use of shore power while at the port. The president of AIDA Cruises, Felix Eichhorn, reportedly said that the firm continues to actively explore opportunities to decarbonize their fleet while advancing efficiency with international targets of carbon intensity reduction.

With a fruitful start to using biofuel, the firm has proven that gradual decarbonization is possible even on ships that are in service. The firm earlier trialled the usage of regenerated biofuels in marine diesel engines in collaboration with research partners associated with the University of Rostock.

It is also collaborating with partners from science, research, and industry on the development of advanced technologies and solutions to boost carbon-neutral vessel operations.

In 2019, AIDA Cruises reportedly declared the testing of a fuel cell system for supporting green cruising.