New German Cruise Ship Leaves Dock

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Newly built German cruise ship heads from docks through narrow canal into open sea.

A German-built cruise ship with 1,097 guest cabins has left the shipyard in Papenburg to make its way into the open sea through a very narrow canal on the river Ems, a manoeuvre watched by hundreds of onlookers.

A newly built cruise ship with 1,097 guest cabins was on her way from a German shipyard to the open sea late on Thursday (April 12). Hundreds of onlookers watched from the banks of the river Ems.

The ship's maiden voyage from the "Meyer Werft" shipyard took several hours and lasted into the night, as she maneuvered her way through the very narrow Ems canal.

[Marlene Seitz, Onlooker]:
"I think it's great that the ship was built and that it is moving now. It's called Aida Mar and the funny thing is that my name is Marlene."

Several German environment organizations such as BUND and NABU condemned the "repeated issuing of special permits" by authorities to allow the ocean liners to use the river Ems.

According to the NABU, the "continued digging" to make the Ems deeper turned the river's ecological system "into an extremely bad state."

The Aida Mar's depth of flotation is 23-feet 7-inches, measures 275 yards in length and 35 yards wide.

The ship with 14 decks already has three sisters, the Aida Blu, Aida Luna and Aida Sol.

According to its operators, Aida tours, the Aida Mar is powered by a diesel-electric system.

The ship has 1,088-horse power and reaches a maximum speed of 20 knots, or 23 miles per hour.