Carnival Cruise Line, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc, announced the signing of an agreement with Shell, to be the supplier of marine liquefied natural gas (LNG), for its two new LNG-powered ships expected to launch in 2020 and 2022 and to be homeported in North America.
The two ships, expected to be North America’s first LNG-powered cruise ships, will be fueled through Shell’s LNG Bunker Barge (LBB) – a project announced earlier this week, as part of Shell’s strategic plan to develop a global LNG bunkering network.
The two new Carnival Cruise Line vessels will be fully powered by LNG both while in port and at sea – an industry first and an environmental breakthrough that will improve air quality with cleaner emissions and produce the most efficient ships in company history. The 180,000-ton ships will be the largest ships in Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet with an approximate passenger capacity of 5,200 based on double occupancy.
Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corporation, noted: “We are looking forward to working closely with Shell as they help to bring LNG to North America in what we hope will be the first step in building a strong foundation for the future of LNG fuel supply for cruise ships in the region.”
This agreement builds on the partnership established between Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises brand and Shell in April of 2016, to supply its AIDAprima ship with LNG to power the vessel while docked.
The partnership was extended in fall 2016 when Carnival Corporation signed an agreement with Shell to supply LNG for the first of its next-generation LNG ships from its European AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises brands. These two ships will be the world’s first fully LNG-powered cruise ships when they enter service in 2018 and 2019.
Additionally, the agreement furthers the realization of Carnival Corporation’s LNG efforts that began in 2015 with AIDAsol becoming the first cruise ship in the world to be supplied with power by an LNG hybrid barge, which also saw major benefits while in port.
As part of the framework agreement, Carnival and Shell have the opportunity to partner together on supplying marine LNG fuel to future LNG-powered vessels or additional itineraries. The overarching agreement enables each Carnival Corporation brand to negotiate individual LNG supply contracts with Shell as new LNG-powered cruise ships begin to launch in coming years.
In total, Carnival Corporation has agreements in place with leading German and Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku to build seven LNG-powered cruise ships across four of its 10 global cruise brands with delivery dates between 2018 and 2022.