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The eco-friendly delivery vessel, which up until now has been referred to as the LNG Hybrid Barge, was christened the Hummel (or 'Bumblebee' in English) on Saturday, October 19, at Grasbrook Kai, Hafencity, located near Hamburg Cruise Center at the port of Hamburg.

Just two years after the start of cooperation between Becker Marine Systems GmbH & Co. KG - the company responsible for developing and operating the Hummel - and AIDA Cruises, the vessel arrived in Hamburg on October 4, 2014.

The technical launch of the new floating liquefied gas (LNG) power plant took place in Komárno, Slovakia on September 5. It then made a 1,500-kilometre, three-week trip up the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers and the North Sea to the Elbe before arriving in Hamburg.

Further work and testing of the first German seagoing vessel to employ LNG technology then took place at the Blohm + Voss shipyard.

Speaking at the christening, Dirk Lehmann and Henning Kuhlmann, both managing directors of Becker Marine Systems, are quoted as saying: "The LNG Hybrid Barge will contribute towards making the air in Hamburg significantly cleaner."

As a result of the launch of the new floating liquefied power plant, cruise ships will in future be supplied with LNG during their layovers at port.

This will enable the heavy-fuel-oil-powered generators on ships to be switched off during layovers at port and will result in lower emissions and particulates compared to marine diesel fuel. Sulphur oxides and soot particles will no longer be emitted, the emission of nitrogen oxides will be reduced by up to 80% and carbon dioxide by 30%, according to Becker Marine Systems.

Also during the christening, the first test connection was carried out with AIDA Cruises' AIDAsol cruise ship. It is planned that at the start of the next cruise season in spring 2015, the Hummel will supply the AIDAsol at its home port of Hamburg.

The Hummel is 77 metres long and 11 metres wide and equipped with five generators with an overall output of 7.5 megawatts (MW), or 50/60 hertz (Hz). These generators are the first marine-classified LNG Caterpillar engines to be delivered to customers.

Dr. Monika Griefahn, Chief Sustainability Officer at AIDA Cruises, was named godmother of the Hummel at the christening.

Image: The LNG Hybrid Barge, christened the Hummel (or 'Bumblebee' in English).