Costa Cruises completes first LNG bunkering operation in Italy
Costa Cruises, the leading cruise line in Europe, today announced another milestone for Costa Smeralda, the line’s first ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), with an LNG bunkering operation successfully performedon October 25 for the first time in Italy, the company said in its release.
Carried out in the port of La Speziaandcompleted at 6 pm, the operation was supported bythe Italian Coast Guard, Port Authority of Eastern Ligurian Sea, local authoritiesand Shell, which is the LNG supplier partner for Costa Group andits parent company, Carnival Corporation.
The operationtook place with the ship berthed at “Molo Garibaldi” pier,where the bunkering vessel Coral Methane was positioned alongside (bow to bow) Costa Smeralda, under the supervision of the Italian Coast Guard and in coordination with all parties involved and the crews of Costa Smeralda and Coral Methane.
Costa Smeralda is the first LNG-powered ship in the Costa fleet, and will be followed by Costa Toscana,the sister LNG ship to be delivered in the lastquarter of 2021. Another LNG ship, AIDAnova, has been operating within the Costa Group fleet since 2018 and she will be followed by other two sister vesselsby 2023. As part of the overall Carnival Corporation fleet, a third LNG-powered ship, P&O Cruises UK’s Iona, was recently delivered.
LNG, the marine industry’s most advanced fuel technology to eliminate sulfur and improve air emissions, significantly improves overall air emissions with the virtual elimination of sulfur dioxide emissions (zero emissions) and a 95 to 100% reduction in particulate matter. The use of LNG also significantly reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide by 85% and 20%, respectively.
