MIAMI, Sept. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest leisure travel company, marked the official beginning of
construction for the first of its seven next-generation cruise
ships that will be fully-powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG)
with a keel-laying ceremony at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg.
Pioneering a new era in the use of low-carbon fuels, these new
ships will be the first in the cruise industry that can use LNG to
generate 100 percent of their power both in port and on the open
sea – an innovation that will reduce exhaust emissions to help
protect the environment and support Carnival Corporation's
aggressive sustainability goals. These seven ships, with delivery
dates between 2018 and 2022, will be built by leading German and
Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and
Meyer Turku.
Arnold Donald, president and CEO
of Carnival Corporation, together with Bernard Meyer, CEO of Meyer Yards, Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group and Carnival
Asia, and representatives of three of the Carnival Corporation
brands that will receive the LNG ships – David Dingle, chairman of Carnival UK;
Neil Palomba, president of Costa
Cruises; and Felix Eichhorn,
president of AIDA Cruises – gave the official "full steam ahead"
signal for the keel laying of the first ship of the new LNG
generation, AIDAnova, which will be delivered by Meyer Werft Papenburg in fall 2018.
"Today marked a significant milestone in the construction of
this next-generation of Carnival Corporation ships featuring our
'green cruising' design, which will be the most environmentally
friendly ships in our company's history," said Donald, the
corporation's CEO. "We are committed to continuing to reduce air
emissions and improving air quality by evaluating both new and
established solutions, including LNG. We are proud to be on the
forefront of advancing LNG as a fuel source for the cruise
industry, and we appreciate our long-standing partnership with
Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku. We look
forward to the delivery of these beautiful and innovative ships
that will help us meet our top goal – to provide extraordinary
vacation experiences for our guests that exceed all of their
expectations."
"We thank Carnival Corporation and AIDA Cruises very much for
their trust and their pioneering decision to implement LNG
technology onboard their cruise ships," said Meyer. "The
corresponding infrastructure is now being developed at numerous
ports – Carnival Corporation has made a decision that not only
benefits the environment, but that also is highly important for the
whole cruise industry."
Following the introduction of AIDAnova in 2018, Carnival
Corporation's Costa Cruises brand will debut the industry's
next cruise ship that can be powered completely by LNG on the open
seas in 2019 – the first steel-cutting ceremony for this ship
is scheduled at the Meyer Turku shipyard in the coming week.
LNG-powered ships for Carnival Cruise
Line and P&O Cruises (UK) will follow in
2020. Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises will each
receive an additional LNG-powered ship in 2021, followed by an
additional LNG-powered ship for Carnival Cruise Line in
2022.
Pioneering LNG Fuel for the Cruise Industry
In
October 2016, Carnival Corporation
signed a framework agreement with Shell Western LNG B.V. (Shell) to
be its supplier of marine LNG to power the first two of its new LNG
ships for AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises with itineraries visiting
popular European ports. As part of the agreement, the ships will
utilize Shell's infrastructure in cruise ports to refuel with LNG
throughout their itineraries. The vessels, equipped with dual-fuel
engines, are the first of a new generation of cruise ships fully
powered by LNG both while in port and at sea – an industry first
and an environmental breakthrough that will improve air quality
with cleaner emissions.
In 2015, as a pilot project, AIDAsol from the company's AIDA
Cruises brand was the first cruise ship in the world to be supplied
with power by an LNG Hybrid barge and, last year, the newly
delivered AIDAprima became the first cruise ship to routinely use
LNG with a dual-fuel powered engine while in port. Its sister ship,
AIDAperla, debuted this April with the same technology.
In additional to utilizing LNG, Carnival Corporation and its
brands implement extensive measures to deliver on its commitment to
continue to keep guests and crew members safe and comfortable,
protect the environment, develop and provide opportunities for its
workforce, strengthen its stakeholder relations and enhance the
communities in which the company visits and operates. Those
measures are detailed in the company's recently release 2016
sustainability report and newly created sustainability website.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival
Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company
and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise
and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that
include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations
in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise
Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA
Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK), as well
as Fathom, the corporation's immersion and enrichment experience
brand.
Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 103 ships with
231,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with
17 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2022.
Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America
Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both
the New York and London Stock
Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only dual listed
company in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the
FTSE 100 indices.
In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being
among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and
travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival
Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion™, a
high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first
interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming
vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of
customized service.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com,
www.fathom.org, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com,
www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com,
www.pocruises.com.au and www.pocruises.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc