Carnival Cruise Line Agreement With Shell To Fuel LNG-Powered Cruise Ships

Carnival Cruise Line today announced it has signed an agreement with Shell to be its supplier of marine liquefied natural gas to power North America's first fully LNG powered cruise ships. Under the agreement Shell will supply Carnival Cruise Line with fuel for its two new LNG-powered ships expected to launch in 2020 and 2022 and to be homeported in North America.

As part of the agreement the two ships will be fueled through Shell's LNG Bunker Barge (LBB) – a project announced earlier this week as part of Shell's strategic plan to develop a global LNG bunkering network. The ocean-going LBB, which is designed to support growing cruise line demand for LNG as a marine fuel, will be the first of its kind in the U.S. and will allow these ships to refuel with LNG at ports along the southern U.S. East Coast.

"This agreement is a significant stepping stone in our relationship with Carnival Corporation building upon our previous LNG marine fuel supply agreements in Europe," said Tahir Faruqui, president, Shell NA LNG, LLC. "It also marks a milestone as we continue to establish the marine LNG fuel market in the U.S. as a credible part of the global marine fuel mix."

The two new Carnival Cruise Line vessels will be fully powered by LNG both while in port and at sea. The 180,000-ton ships will be the largest ships in Carnival Cruise Line's fleet with an approximate passenger capacity of 5,200 based on double occupancy.

"Carnival Cruise Line is strongly committed to leading the way in the implementation of technology innovations to help protect the environment and support our aggressive sustainability goals," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Our two new cruise ships entering service in 2020 and 2022 will not only be the largest and most technologically advanced in our fleet but will break extraordinary new ground as the first LNG-powered cruise ships in North America."