Cruiseship giant Carnival is working to speed up its LNG bunkering operations as it gains experience with its first LNG-fuelled vessel in Tenerife.
Carnival is supplying about 900 tonnes of LNG as bunkers to the 183,900-gt AIDAnova (built 2018) every two weeks in an operation that takes about 10 hours, company LNG project director Stuart Carpenter said.
He explained that the cruiseship owner needs to cut this time down to eight hours, which he believes can be done with the use of technology, but stressed that the operation also needs to be completed safely.
'A real project'
Detailing the company’s first month of bunkering operations for the AIDAnova, Carpenter said: “This is a real project and not just a one-off bunkering.”
Carpenter, who was speaking at IQPC’s LNG Bunkering Summit in Amsterdam, explained how a purpose-built, seven-metre wide pontoon has been deployed to fit between the LNG bunker vessel and the ship as a solution to the overhanging cruiseships’ lifeboats, which prevent the LNGBV from coming closer alongside.
Miami-headquartered Carnival has also created an LNG engineer position onboard its ships. Carpenter said the role will concentrate solely on LNG bunkering.
The AIDAnova has 56 LNG-trained officers across the two crews with at least six reaching the highest competency level. "We have gone beyond compliance,” he said.
Coy over plans
By the end of next year, New York and London-listed Carnival will be fuelling its vessels with LNG in Spain and possibly in the UK and US. But the company is coy about revealing the details of its LNG bunkering plans.
In total, the cruise outfit has a further 10 LNG-fuelled newbuildings on order. It has signed a deal with Shell to supply LNG bunkers to the first four, including the AIDAnova, which shifts its base to Barcelona in April.
A second LNG-fuelled cruiseship, the 183,900-gt Costa Smeralda, delivers from Finland's Meyer Turku in October and will be based and bunkered in Barcelona, running cruises to Italy and France.
A third 183,900-gt vessel, the Iona, for the company’s P&O brand, is due for delivery from Germany in May 2020 and initially will be based in Southampton, UK, cruising to Norway.
“We will be bunkering somewhere en route, most likely in the home port, but we will be looking to see where the opportunities are,” Carnival senior vice president maritime affairs Tom Strang said.
Transition to US
Carnival will then transition its LNG bunkering over to the US with the delivery of a fourth vessel, the 180,000-gt newbuilding Mardi Gras, which is to be based in Port Canaveral, Florida, and fuelled by a 4,000-cbm, purpose-built bunker barge chartered by Shell.
Carpenter said the ship will be delivered cold from theyard and the intention is to keep it in that condition, so if possible, it will make its maiden trans-Atlantic delivery voyage running on LNG. "Ships have the range — they are designed to do that," Strang added.
