South Korea’s Busan Port hosts its first LNG-powered cruise ship

Following the expansion of the LNG fuel supply structure, South Korea’s Busan Port has hosted the first LNG-powered cruise ship – the 2023-built Silver Nova owned by Monaco-based Silversea Cruises.

The 54,000-ton LNG-fueled Silver Nova, which was built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft as the first unit of Silversea’s Nova class ships, entered the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal Cruise Pier on October 7, 2024.

According to Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), Silver Nova’s visit is expected to serve as an opportunity for cruise lines to promote Busan Port as a home port for eco-friendly cruise ships based on its environmentally friendly port infrastructure.

In response to these environmentally friendly trends, the MOF said it has been taking measures, such as supplying fuel to LNG ships via a ship-to-ship mode in August of this year and building eco-friendly infrastructure.

Specifically, the Busan Port successfully launched South Korea’s first simultaneous operation of LNG bunkering and containership cargo loading and unloading on August 8 when the LNG bunkering vessel Blue Whale berthed alongside CMA CGM Visby, which supplied 270 tonnes of LNG by ship-to-ship bunkering.

Shortly after, Busan Port Authority (BPA) and Ulsan Port Authority (UPA) signed a joint declaration of intent with Germany’s Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) to work on expanding the use of environmentally friendly marine fuels.