MSC Cruises plans to add at least 15 new ports between 2024 and 2026 to expand its existing infrastructure and enable ships to connect to shore power grids. This initiative reinforces the company's commitment to decarbonization and its ongoing efforts to move in this direction. The primary goal is to reduce emissions from its fleet while ships are docked in port.
The port electrification plan for 2024-2026 includes at least five Italian ports, Barcelona and Valencia in Spain, Stavanger and Norfjordje in Norway, Miami in the United States, Copenhagen in Denmark, Marseille in France, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Valletta in Malta, and Stockholm in Sweden. These ports will join the initiative as part of the expansion of onshore electrical infrastructure, allowing ships to connect to the power grid while in port.
The company aims for both MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys ships to make full use of onshore power facilities in all the ports where they operate, both in Europe and in other parts of the world
Since February 2023, MSC Cruises ships have successfully implemented the use of shore power in the ports of Southampton (UK) and Kristiansand (Norway). Furthermore, the company plans to conduct trials of the installations in the Norwegian port of Haugesund later this summer. Additional trials are planned for several MSC Cruises ships in European ports throughout this year, including Bergen and Ålesund in Norway, and Warnemünde in Germany.
For its part, Cruise Baltic, which covers 32 ports and destinations in its region, pledged to increase the number of onshore power facilities.
Since 2017, shore power capability has been installed as standard on all new MSC Cruises ships. In addition, retrofits have been made to existing ships, meaning that 67% of the total MSC Cruises fleet is currently equipped with this technology. Furthermore, all Explora Journeys ships will also be equipped with shore power.
Linden Coppell, Vice President of Sustainability and ESG at MSC Cruises, stated: “Shore energy is a key factor in our journey towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. All of our new ships built since 2017 are equipped with the ability to connect to local electricity grids, and we are introducing retrofits on the other ships in our fleet.”
MSC Cruises' latest flagship, MSC Euribia, boasts the most energy-efficient cruise ship design ever, and earlier this month made an industry-first voyage when it sailed from France to Denmark, demonstrating the potential to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions itinerary through the use of renewable bio-LNG.
