In the morning of 21 February 2009, the 69,200-gt club ship AIDAluna left the shipyard Meyer Werft for the North Sea. The Ems barrier was operated to support the passage down the river.
In the midday hours of 21 February around 12 pm, AIDAluna passed the lock in Papenburg. Around 2 pm she reached the needle eye of the Friesen Bridge near Weener. Around 3:30 pm the ship passed the Jann-Berghaus Bridge at Leer. Both bridges have a maximum of 45 meters admission. Due to the ships breadth of 32.2 metres, there were only 6 meters on each side between AIDAluna and the piers.
At approximately 9:30 pm, AIDAluna passed the Ems barrier and reached Emden at around 1 am on Sunday morning.
The Emden Pilot Association was in charge of the passage. AIDAluna passed the river Ems towards the North Sea backwards, assisted by two tugs, since this type of conveyance has proven its worth.
The ship’s cruise on the 70 km long Ems passage is a spectacular event that was witnessed by thousands of bystanders. The AIDAluna will then leave Emden for the sea trials. Delivery of the new vessel will be on 16 March. On 22 March, AIDAluna starts her maiden voyage from Hamburg to Palma de Majorca, where the ship will be christened by top model Franziska Knuppe on 4 April.
The ship will cruise in the Baltic Sea during summer and in the Canaries in winter.
(www.aida.de/aidaluna)