Nordic energy company Gasum and Cruise Division of Swiss MSC Group have signed a long-term agreement for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the new flagship of its MSC Cruises brand, MSC Euribia.
MSC Euribia recently demonstrated that emissions-neutral cruising is possible by sailing the first ever net-zero greenhouse gas emissions cruise voyage benefiting from the emissions reductions allowed by liquefied biogas procured by Gasum.
The ship, which was christened in Copenhagen last week, sailed for four days from Saint-Nazaire in France to Copenhagen, Denmark and used bio-LNG with a mass-balance approach.
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MSC Euribia, MSC Cruises’ 2nd LNG-fueled cruise ship, christened Business Developments & Projects MSC Cruises purchased over 400 tonnes of bio-LNG from Gasum to show its commitment to the deployment of drop-in renewable fuels and energy transition measures towards the net zero gas emissions voyage.
Using LNG removes nearly all sulfur oxide and particle emissions, greatly reduces nitrogen oxide emissions and significantly lowers greenhouse gas emissions, according to the company. In addition, LNG technology on board enables MSC Cruises to switch at any time to fully renewable liquefied biogas (bio-LNG) or synthetic gas (e-LNG) in order to reach greenhouse gas emissions reductions of up to 100 per cent.
Furthermore, the companies have also signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the goal of cooperating on the supply of synthetic e-LNG made with renewable energy.
Specifically, the cooperation will enable MSC Cruises to use liquefied synthetic gas which is produced using hydrogen, created by hydrolysis with renewable energy and captured CO2.
Gasum and MSC Cruises want to create an actionable roadmap for cutting emissions in MSC’s cruise operations with sizeable volumes of several thousand tons of e-LNG starting in 2026.
All this is part of MSC Cruise Division’s strategy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its marine operations by 2050.
“Partnering with Gasum will enable us to access new and cleaner fuels needed to make net zero cruising a reality. We need more suppliers like Gasum to step up and support our industry with its environmental targets,” Linden Coppell , Vice President of Sustainability and ESG for MSC Cruises, said.
“This LOI on e-LNG is a landmark agreement for the shipping industry as it demonstrates that e-LNG will be available to the maritime transport sector within a short timeframe. We are also very happy about the long-term LNG supply agreement which we believe is the start of long-lasting cooperation,” Mika Wiljanen , CEO of Gasum, stated.