Carnival Corporation has officially marked the beginning of construction of the first of its seven next-generation cruise ships that will be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The new vessels will be the first in the cruise industry that can use LNG to generate 100 percent of their power in port, and on the open sea, which will significantly reduce exhaust emissions. The seven ships are set to be delivered from 2018 to 2022, and will be built by Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku. This first ship to begin construction – AIDAnova – marked the beginning of construction with a keel-laying ceremony at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg. President and CEO of Carnival Corporation Arnold Donald, as well as representatives from three of the company’s brands and shipyard officials gave the official “full steam ahead” signal for the keel-laying. The vessel is set to be delivered by Meyer Werft Papenburg in fall 2018.
Following AIDAnova‘s introduction, Costa Cruises will debut the next LNG-powered ship which will debut in 2019. The steel-cutting ceremony for that vessel will be happening within the week. LNG-powered ships for Carnival Cruise Line and P&O Cruises will follow in 2020. Costa and AIDA will each receive another ship in 2021, followed by an additional vessel for Carnival Cruise Line in 2022.
