AIDA Cruises presents Sustainability Report “AIDA cares 2015”
On July 24, AIDA Cruises presented its current Sustainability Report “AIDA Cares 2015” to the public in Hamburg. It is based on the internationally recognized standard of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
The reporting period covers all relevant facts and figures for the fiscal year 2014 as well as selected highlights of the first half of the year 2015.
“We have achieved many additional important milestones in environmental protection. AIDAsol will be the first cruise ship in the world to be supplied with power from low-emission liquefied gas by the LNG Hybrid Barge in the port of Hamburg. Other ships in the AIDA fleet received the first installations of the comprehensive filter system to reduce waste gas. Together with atmosfair, we have launched a climate protection program to reduce CO2 emissions,” said Dr. Monika Griefahn, Chief Sustainability Officer at AIDA Cruises.
Professor Mojib Latif, a renowned climatologist and leader of the research field of ocean circulation and climate dynamics at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel stated the following on the commitment by AIDA Cruises: “The cruise industry has a special responsibility when it comes to lower emissions that are harmful to the climate. AIDA shows that economic success and environmentally conscious activities do not have to contradict each other. In its use of innovative environmental technologies and by participating in numerous research projects, AIDA is taking entirely new paths and has set ambitious goals for itself.”
AIDA Cruises started a climate protection program in 2014 together with the climate protection organization atmosfair, of which Mojib Latif is a patron. AIDA Cruises compensates for the CO2 emission of its employees’ business trips through climate protection projects by atmosfair and offers its guests the opportunity of a voluntary CO2 compensation for their cruise. As part of a pilot project and for the supply of its cruise ships in the future, AIDA Cruises is testing the possibility of utilizing LNG that has been produced fully CO2-free through the power-to-gas method with wind or solar power.
Additional milestones during the reporting period include a further reduction of the energy consumption per person on board by an average of thirteen percent through a variety of measures. The emission of CO2 was lowered by eleven percent and that of sulfur oxide by eight percent. The emissions of nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter decreased by seven percent.
In 2014, AIDA Cruises introduced a catalog of scientific criteria for sustainable shoreside excursions that had been developed together with futouris e.V. and other partners. This is used as the basis for evaluations of AIDA excursions at all destinations in consideration of environmental, social and cultural parameters.
The new office complex AIDA Home, which was opened in 2014, was the first office building in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to receive the silver quality seal by the German Association for Sustainable Construction (DGNB). AIDA contributed even further to environmental protection by introducing electric cars for business trips at its sites in Rostock and Hamburg.
In the fall of 2015, AIDAprima will be launched as the first cruise ship in the world that has a dual-fuel engine for an energy supply with LNG during its docking time at the ports as well as a connection to shoreside power and an extensive filter system for the treatment of waste gas. A sister ship with the same construction will supplement the AIDA fleet in 2016.
As a pioneer in the industry, AIDA Cruises is again setting an example for environmental protection with the ship generation of 2019-2020: With the “green cruising” concept, AIDA will be the first cruise line in the world to operate its new ship generation to 100 percent with LNG (liquefied natural gas). This completely eliminates emissions of soot particles and sulfur oxides.
As the market leader on the German cruise market, AIDA Cruises is also committed to social responsibility. The company supported various social and cultural institutions with an amount of almost 400,000 Euros in 2014. 100,000 Euros alone were donated to the SOS Children’s Village Iloilo in the Philippines in 2014.
In its role as an employer, AIDA continually invests in practical training and further education for its personnel and supports motivated employees with potential in formulating their personal career plans. AIDA Cruises received the “Top Employer in Germany 2015” award by the international research company Top Employers Institute for this reason. AIDA Cruises also scored high as an attractive employer in a direct comparison with other tourist companies. In 2014, AIDA Cruises was recognized as one of the best employers in the tourism industry by the news magazine Focus.
