The maritime company will link these two islands in the Antilles in a seven-hour journey with an eco-efficient ship that could become the first ferry powered by natural gas in the Caribbean. Balearia wants to connect the 133 miles that separate the ports of San Pedro de Macorís and Mayagüez with a service ferry diary.
MSC Cruises and Shell Western LNG have entered into an agreement for the fuel supplier to provide LNG for the shipping operator’s flagship MSC Euribia. The first bunkering operation recently took place in Rotterdam. MSC Cruises has invested EUR 3 billion in three LNG-powered cruise ships.
MSC is committed to maintaining a modern fleet that will advance progress towards net zero decarbonization by replacing conventional fuel vessels with dual-fuel capable vessels in the short term, including those fueled by LNG. In the cruise sector, the company has launched MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia, whose maiden voyage was powered by bio-LNG.
The current global fleet of 355 LNG-fueled vessels, excluding LNG carriers, are all capable of using bio-LNG as drop-in fuel without any modification. Bio-LNG can also be transported, stored and bunkered in ports using the existing LNG infrastructure, which provides a route to further expansion of its availability in coming years, according to SEA-LNG.
By providing marine LNG in remote locations where cruise vessels operate, Gasum supports the ambition of its customers to reduce the impact on visited ecosystems. In addition to the almost complete elimination of local pollutant emissions that are already achieved by using LNG, the use of bio-LNG reduces the CO2 footprint of cruising significantly.
Both companies signed a long-term agreement for the supply of LNG to the new MSC Euribia, as well as a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the goal of cooperating on the supply of synthetic e-LNG made with renewable energy. This is part of MSC Cruise Division’s strategy to achieve net zero GHG emissions from its marine operations by 2050.
ICTSI’s Mexican business unit operating the Specialized Container Terminal 2 at the Port of Manzanillo recorded another milestone receiving the CMA CGM Liberty – the first LNG-powered containership to arrive in Mexico. The arrival of the 14,806-TEU vessel represents a key step in reducing GHG emissions and promoting sustainable maritime transport in the country.
The facility, which is co-financed by the European Commission through the CEF Program, involved an investment of 16 million euros and adds to the set of actions carried out or currently underway at the port facility. It has a cryogenic tank with a storage capacity of 1,000 cubic meters and joins the terminal that Repsol has in the port of Bilbao.
The new ship, the 22nd vessel to join MSC Cruises’ fleet, will sail for four days from Saint-Nazaire to Copenhagen and achieve net zero GHG emissions using biomethane to demonstrate that net zero cruising is possible today. MSC Euribia will depart the French port on 3 June and is scheduled to arrive in the Danish city on 7 June.
The Optimus, a long-term chartered LNG bunker vessel by Titan and owned by Elengir, has completed the first LNG bunkering operation of AIDANova, AIDA Cruises’ eco-friendly cruise ship. The operation was successfully carried out and it ran smoothly as planned. This was the first LNG bunker supply ever performed in the Port of Kiel.
