Carnival Cruise Line Taps Shell to Fuel North America’s First LNG-Powered Cruise Ships

Carnival Cruise Line has signed an agreement with Shell NA LNG to be its supplier of marine LNG to power North America’s first fully LNG-powered cruise ships. Under the agreement, Shell will supply Carnival Cruise Line with fuel for its two new LNG-powered ships expected to launch in 2020 and 2022 and to be homeported in North America.

The two ships, built with a next-generation “green cruising” ship design, 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 ocean-going LBB, which is designed to support growing cruise line demand for LNG as a marine fuel, will be the first of its kind in the U.S. and will allow these ships to refuel with LNG at ports along the southern U.S. East Coast.

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.

“Carnival Cruise Line is strongly committed to leading the way in the implementation of technology innovations to help protect the environment and support our aggressive sustainability goals,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Our two new cruise ships entering service in 2020 and 2022 will not only be the largest and most technologically advanced in our fleet but will break extraordinary new ground as the first LNG-powered cruise ships in North America.”

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. AIDAprima is the first cruise ship in the world to use LNG while in port, leading to a major reduction in emissions. Additionally, AIDAsol became the first cruise ship in 2015 to be supplied with power by an LNG hybrid barge, which also saw major benefits while in port.

These two ships will be the world’s first fully LNG-powered cruise ships when they enter service in 2018 and 2019.