Costa Cruises in Italy’s first LNG bunkering operation

Costa Cruises, part of Carnival Corporation has ticked off another milestone with its first LNG-powered liner, Costa Smeralda.

The vessel completed an LNG bunkering operation on October 25 in the port of La Specia. It was the first LNG bunkering operation in Italy, the Cruise Line said.

The operation was supported by the Italian Coast Guard, Port Authority of Eastern Ligurian Sea, local authorities, and Shell, which is the LNG supplier partner for Costa Group and its parent company, Carnival Corporation.

The operation took place with the ship berthed at Molo Garibaldi pier, where the bunkering vessel Coral Methane was positioned alongside Costa Smeralda.

“With the LNG bunkering that took place in La Spezia, we also marked the 50th successful operation for a Costa Group ship,” said Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corporation.

Costa Smeralda is the first LNG-powered ship in the Costa Cruises fleet and will be followed by Costa Toscana, the sister LNG ship scheduled to be delivered in late 2021.

Another LNG ship, AIDAnova from AIDA Cruises, has been operating within the Costa Group fleet since 2018 and she will be followed by the other two sister vessels by 2023.

As part of the overall Carnival Corporation fleet, a third LNG-powered ship, P&O Cruises UK’s Iona, was recently delivered.