Carnival Corporation has signed a multi-billion dollar contract to build four next-generation cruise ships that will be the first in the cruise industry to be powered at sea by liquefied natural gas.
Using LNG to power the ships in port and at sea will eliminate emissions of soot particles and sulfur oxides.
The contract with Meyer Werft is part of larger previously announced strategic memo of understanding with shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Fincantieri S.p.A for nine new ship orders between 2019 and 2022. The ships will be the largest ever built based on guest capacity, Carnival says.
The company says two of the ships will be manufactured for AIDA Cruises at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.
LNG will be stored onboard and used to generate 100 percent power at sea.
By the end of 2014, Carnival improved its fleet’s overall fuel efficiency by 24 percent, compared to 2007, while saving about $2.5 billion in fuel costs, the company’s single biggest expense.
