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.