Carnival's AIDA Cruises will continue expanding use of LNG by supplying one of its vessels with the low-emission fuel while in certain Mediterranean ports.

The German cruiseship owner has announced that the 3,286-berth AIDAperla (built 2017) will start running on LNG over the coming weeks while docked at the ports of Barcelona, Spain Marseilles, France, and Civitavecchia, Italy. The firm is also speaking with authorities in the Spanish port of Palma de Mallorca.

The vessel will take on the fuel from an LNG truck and use a dual-fuel engine to produce needed power while at dock, where a cruiseship spends 40% of its operating time, the company said.

"We believe it is important for our longterm sustainability efforts to undertake this important initiative with LNG," spokesman Roger Frizzell said today via email.

Carnival has already signed up energy major Shell to supply LNG to AIDAperla's twin ship, the 3,286-berth AIDAprima (built 2016).

The firm is also building seven LNG-fuelled cruiseships for delivery dates between 2018-2022.

Next fall, AIDA Cruises will commission AIDAnova, a new generation of ship that will run entirely off of LNG while in port and at sea. A second, twin ship is expected to join the AIDA fleet in early 2021.

"We previously pioneered the use of LNG for use in port on our AIDA Cruises ship, and now we will be the first to use LNG to power our newest ships at sea," Frizzell said.

Earlier this month, Carnival announced an agreement with Shell to supply LNG as bunkers to two new LNG-fuelled ships in North America.

The two 180,000-gt vessels, due for delivery in 2020 and 2022, will be supplied by Shell's new LNG bunker barge while in port and at sea.

Using LNG for onboard power cuts nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80% and carbon dioxide output by 20%, Carnival said.

"Particulate matter and sulfur oxides are almost entirely eliminated – an important contribution to improving air quality in some of the most important cruise ports of the Western Mediterranean," the company said.

Frizzell said Carnival is in the early stages of working with Shell and other entities to use LNG on more of its ships, but the company has not determined how many of their ships will do so.

"It is too early to predict at this point," he said.