Carnival Orders Three More LNG-Powered Cruise Ships

Carnival has ordered three more LNG-powered next-generation cruise ships.

Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival) Tuesday announced that is has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Meyer Werft GmbH (Meyer Werft) and Meyer Turku Oy (Meyer Turku) to deliver three next-generation cruise ships, all of which will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

With the addition of the latest three ships, the company now has a total of seven new LNG-powered cruise ships on order across four of its 10 cruise brands, with the first of these set to be delivered to AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.

"We are proud to be at the forefront of introducing LNG-powered ships to the cruise industry, working with our partners to achieve shipbuilding breakthroughs like this that will help us produce the most efficient and sustainable ships we have ever built," said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival.

"This is also an important step in our fleet enhancement plan that enables us to execute on our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time, while delivering innovative new ships that further elevate our already great guest experience."

Carnival says that two of the three newly ordered vessels will be built for Carnival itself by Meyer Turku, with delivery dates planned for 2020 and 2022.

The two new 180,000 GRT, 5,200 passenger capacity cruise ships will be the largest among Carnival's fleet, says the company, noting that the two vessels will also mark the first time an LNG-powered cruise ship is based in North America.

The third of the three newly ordered ships will be built for P&O Cruises UK by Meyer Werft with an expected delivery date in 2020.

Along with the new orders, Carnival notes that delivery dates of the new builds for AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises will shift from 2020 to 2021 in order to allow the company to better allocate measured capacity growth across its 10 global brands.

"We are also thrilled to be introducing Carnival Corporation's 'green cruising' design platform to North America. Both of these ships will be fully powered at sea and in port by Liquefied Natural Gas, which is the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel. These ships are being designed for maximum energy efficiency and environmental friendliness," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Last year, Carnival said it was not deterred by a current lack of LNG bunkering infrastructure when it made its decision to use LNG bunkers to power four newbuild mega-cruise ships with the largest guest capacity in the world.