Carnival Returns to Meyer Werft for Third LNG-Powered Cruise Ship for AIDA

An illustration of the LNG-powered newbuild that is scheduled to debut in 2023. Image credit: Carnival Corp.

The world’s leading cruise company has ordered yet another LNG-powered cruise ship amid the accelerating demand for new capacity in the global cruise market.

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) announced Tuesday it has signed a shipbuilding contract with German shipbuilder Meyer Werft for a third next-generation cruise ship for its AIDA Cruises brand.

The 100,000-ton ship will be built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany with delivery scheduled for 2023.

With the order, AIDA Cruises now has a total of three newbuild ships on order to be powered by cleaner-burning liquefied natural gas while both at sea and in port.

AIDAnova is scheduled to join AIDA Cruises’ fleet in December as the first ship of the new generation of LNG vessels, and the first-ever cruise ship in the world to be fully powered by LNG. The second ship of this series will be christened in the spring of 2021.

Like its two predecessors, the newbuild announced Tuesday will be constructed by Meyer Werft at its shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. It will include an estimated 2,700 guest staterooms and featured Carnival’s exclusive “green cruising” design, which incorporates LNG as the primary fuel for operations at sea and in port.

AIDA is the largest cruise line in Germany, which is the largest and fastest-growing cruise market in Europe.

The three next-generation LNG ships for AIDA Cruises are part of Carnival Corporation’s ongoing fleet enhancement strategy with a combined 20 new ships scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2023.

Tim Meyer, managing director of Meyer Werft, said: “This is the 10th AIDA Cruises ship we are building in Papenburg, emphasizing a long-term partnership between AIDA Cruises and Meyer Werft. AIDAnova and the following two sister ships feature the latest technology focused on sustainability and energy efficiency.”

In total, Carnival Corporation has agreements in place with leading German and Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku to build nine LNG-powered cruise ships across four of its nine global cruise brands with delivery dates between 2018 and 2023 – the three ships for AIDA Cruises, two for Costa Cruises with expected delivery dates in 2019 and 2021, two for P&O Cruises UK with expected delivery dates in 2020 and 2022, and two for Carnival Cruise Line with expected delivery dates in 2020 and 2022.