Meyer Werft cuts steel for first LNG fueled cruise ship

Felix Eichhorn, President of AIDA Cruises with Meyer Weft CEOs Tim Meyer and Bernard Meyer

FEBRUARY 23, 2017 — German shipbuilder Meyer Werft on Monday cut the first steel for what will be the world’s first LNG fueled cruise ship.

The ship — yard number S.696 — is the first of two Helios Class ships ordered by Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises in 2015. The 180,000 gt ships will each have around 2,500 cabins and will join the AIDA fleet in autumn 2018 and spring 2021. They will be powered by Caterpillar MaK dual fuel engines.

“AIDA will be giving the German holiday market a completely new impetus with the new Helios Class,” said AIDA President Felix, who pressed the start button of the computer-controlled cutting machine to start work on the first steel plate for the first ship.

In addition to the LNG burning Caterpillar MaK engines, other energy efficient features of the ships include heat recovery, innovative electric motors, LED lighting, ship automation geared to energy efficiency, optimized underwater paintwork to reduce resistance and weight-optimized material selection.

“We are very pleased that we can break completely new technological ground with AIDA in this way. AIDA and Carnival now lead the way for establishing LNG as the fuel of the future,” said Meyer Werft CEO Tim Meyer.