On 10 May 2021 the shore-side electricity supply facility for cruise liners started its regular operation at the passenger quay in Warnemünde during the National Maritime Conference. So from now on, two cruise liners can receive up to 20 MVA of shore power from renewable sources simultaneously at berths P7 and P8 in Warnemünde. The land-based power system is built to a modular design with standard twenty-foot containers which contain nearly all electrical components such as frequency converters, transformers, switchgear installation, controls etc. Thanks to the integrated frequency converters it is possible to transform the shore electricity to accommodate all standard global shipboard power supply systems (with both 50 and 60 Hz) according to the international standards of the cruise shipping industry. AIDAsol was the only cruise liner to use shore power while berthing in Warnemünde this season.
On 1 July the cruise liner AIDAsol opened the cruise season at berth P7 of Rostock’s Baltic Sea spa. Until early October AIDAsol left the port 18 times for cruises around the Baltic Sea; her sister ship AIDAdiva made three port calls here in October. The cruise liners MSC Seaview, Mein Schiff 1, Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 6 were welcomed at the port of Warnemünde for the first time.
This year’s summer cruise shipping season in Warnemünde ends on 26 October with the port call of AIDAdiva. Three other port calls are still scheduled by the cruise vessel Amadea on 28 November and 5 December and by Mein Schiff 1 on 7 December. In total, The Baltic Sea spa of Rostock will then have seen 47 port calls by cruise liners this year.
„The 2021 cruise shipping season was mostly dominated by two challenges – implementing safe and smooth processes at the passenger port of Warnemünde under the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic and commissioning the shore-side electricity supply facility to supply environmentally friendly and sustainable energy to the ships while they are berthing in port. We are very glad about the successful restart of cruise shipping and, looking forward to the 2022 season from where we are now, are very well prepared also thanks to communicating and exchanging views with the shipping companies, public authorities and politicians”, says Jens A. Scharner, managing director of ROSTOCK PORT.
photo: AIDA Cruises