Carnival to Build World's Largest Capacity Cruise Ships, Power Them Using LNG Bunkers

Carnival has signed a contract with Meyer Werft to build four cruise ships, all featuring a "green cruising" design and powered by LNG.

Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival) announced Monday that it has signed a multi-billion dollar contract with Meyer Werft GmbH (Meyer Werft) to build four "next-generation" liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered cruise ships with the largest guest capacity in the world, and all featuring a "green cruising" design.

"Pioneering a new era in the use of sustainable fuels, the four new ships will be the first in the cruise industry to use LNG in dual-powered hybrid engines to power the ship both in port and on the open sea," said Carnival.

"LNG will be stored onboard and used to generate 100 percent power at sea - producing another industry-first innovation for Carnival Corporation and its brands. Using LNG to power the ships in port and at sea will eliminate emissions of soot particles and sulfur oxides."

Carnival said LNG was "the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel" and the move represented "a major environmental breakthrough."

The company did not give details on its LNG bunkering strategy.

Each of the four ships will have a total capacity of 6,600 guests, feature more than 5,000 lower berths, and exceed 180,000 gross tonnes.

"At a cost per berth in line with our existing order book, these new ships will enhance the return profile of our fleet," said Arnold Donald, CEO at Carnival Corporation.

Arnold added that the contract is consistent with the company's measured capacity growth strategy to replace ships with less efficient capacity with newer, larger and more fuel efficient vessels over time.

"We are looking forward to executing on the next step in our fleet enhancement plan," said Donald, calling the new orders "exceptionally efficient ships".

The company said two of the ships will be manufactured for AIDA Cruises at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, while the other two will be built in Meyer Werft's shipyard in Turku, Finland.

"We are honoured that Carnival Corporation has entrusted us with the implementation of this ambitious shipbuilding program, and we look forward to building these four magnificent ships," said Bernard Meyer, CEO of Meyer Werft.

The contract is said to be part of larger and previously announced memorandum of understanding with Meyer Werft and Fincantieri S.p.A for nine newbuild orders between 2019 and 2022.

In May, it was announced that Wärtsilä had partnered with Carnival on pilot systems to "significantly contribute to reducing fuel consumption."