From the IV energy board
Carnival Corp. & plc, the world's largest leisure travel company with 10 cruise line brands traveling to all seven continents and nearly 750 ports of call, has ordered a total of seven fully LNG-powered cruise ships – a first for the industry. The company, via its "green cruising" initiative, has already begun integrating LNG-powered vessels into its fleet. The ships, the first of which will set sail in northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, will feature dual-fuel engines that will burn LNG both in port and at sea. On Sept. 30, 2016, Carnival and Shell signed a deal in which the latter will supply the cruise operator with LNG from the Gas Access To Europe (GATE) terminal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and at a Western Mediterranean port. The Carnival-Shell fuel and infrastructure partnership could be expanded to other locales and more ships in the future.
Tom Strang, Carnival Corp.'s senior vice president for maritime affairs, recently told DownstreamToday about his company's pioneering foray into LNG cruising. Read on for details about the rationale for the switch from marine diesel oil to LNG and what Carnival is doing to make it a reality.