Commercial, Sourcing Renewables  -  October 27, 2020

Costa Cruises completes first LNG bunkering in Italy

Costa Cruises, a branch of Carnival Corporation and the leading cruise line in Europe, announced Oct. 26 that it achieved Italy’s first LNG bunkering operation for an LNG-powered ship.

The Costa Smeralda received a liquified natural gas (LNG) bunkering operation in the Italian port of La Spezia supported by the Italian Coast Guard, Port Authority of Eastern Ligurian Sea, local authorities and Shell. 

"With the LNG bunkering that took place in La Spezia, we also marked the 50th successful operation for a Costa Group ship," Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corporation, said in a statement. "This is another important milestone that we have achieved by working together with our partners, as we continue to demonstrate Carnival Corporation's commitment to sustainability and developing the most advanced fuel technologies available today. We are at the forefront of advancing LNG as a fuel source for the cruise industry and we are working to build an extensive, safe and reliable LNG infrastructure for cruise ships around the globe."

Italian authorities hope that this operation will encourage further development of LNG distribution infrastructure in Italian ports. Costa Cruises intends to follow up the Costa Smeralda with a second LNG-powered ship, Costa Toscana, in late 2021. Carnival Corporation estimates that the use of LNG reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide by 85% and 20%, respectively. 

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