Costa Group and the leading methanol producer, Proman, have signed an MOU to drive further the implementation of methanol as a marine fuel for the cruise industry, according to a press release.
The partnership aims to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonization of the existing fleet for Costa and AIDA by enhancing the supply of sustainable methanol, paving the way for the retrofitting of existing vessels to operate on clean fuel, as well as investment in further methanol-fueled new builds.
“The technology to retrofit a vessel to accept methanol as a fuel is available today. Our methanol products can facilitate the transition to low-carbon intensity fuels. Methanol-powered vessels have a proven track record of reducing and eliminating major greenhouse gas emissions, delivering immediate air quality improvements around major ports and shipping lanes. We are excited to bring our expertise along the full methanol value chain to help deliver on Costa Group’s bold ambitions,” said Tim Cornelius, Proman’s Managing Director of Corporate Development.
“We are reducing the carbon footprint of our fleet while at the port and at sea, investing in advanced environmental technologies and partnering with companies such as Proman who share a passion for the sustainable energy transition. By enabling cruise ships to use methanol as a propulsion fuel, Costa follows the ambition to take the next big step towards GHG-neutral operations of our fleet by 2050,” added Dr Christoph Schladoer, VP of Decarbonization Costa Group.
GoodFuels partnered with Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises and completed the first bio-bunkering on AIDAprima, according to a press release.
The AIDAprima was refuelled with GoodFuels’ sustainable biofuels during a port visit to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands as part of a seven-day cruise, visiting Hamburg, Southampton, Le Havre, and Zeebrugge, according to the company. Without requiring any engine or tank modifications, AIDAprima was bunkered with biofuel and continued its itineraries.
“With the successful start of biofuel usage, we have proven that gradual decarbonization is possible even on ships already in service. An important prerequisite for us as a cruise line to be able to use it is that it becomes widely available on an industrial scale and at marketable prices,” commented Felix Eichhorn, president, of AIDA Cruises.
The recent bio-bunkering appears to be just the beginning, as AIDA expects additional deliveries and a possible expansion to other Carnival Corporation brands.
“This first bio-bunkering with AIDA Cruises marks an exciting step forward on the cruise industry’s decarbonisation pathway, demonstrating that our sustainable biofuels are a safe, technically viable and convenient option to drastically cut down emissions from passenger’s vessels. As the effects of climate change are felt acutely in several parts of the world, the time for action is now, and biofuels are one of the few options that can already make a difference today. We are delighted to have worked alongside the trail-blazers at AIDA Cruises in the past few months to make this milestone a reality, and we look forward to collaborating again in the future,” said Dirk Kronemeijer, chief executive officer, GoodFuels.
“Where there are particularly large refits or complex ones, we provide project management resources to support the brands,” said Chris Millman, vice president of corporate marine technology at Carnival Corporation.
Perhaps the biggest project coming up for Carnival Corporation is a battery system retrofit for AIDA Cruises, as the German brand will get a 10MW battery installation with the goal to manoeuvre into port, hook up to shore power, and then sail out of port, all with zero emissions.
“The impact of that will be zero emissions for a port call, which is something we are looking at,” Millman said, adding that a fuel cell installation was also happening in the near future on an AIDA vessel.
Long-term planning is centred around fewer emissions with the eventual goal of finding the zero-emissions fuel of the future.
Varying Projects
Many of the ideas and project topics come from the brands themselves, noted Mike Kaczmarek, vice president of corporate shipbuilding.
Thus, those projects can turn into company-wide refit projects, energy-efficiency initiatives and help lend resources and support to prototype future technologies.
“We have been running a technical prototype initiative whereby we are assessing the impact of different technologies on the ships,” said Millman, pointing to variable speed pumps, fan controllers, different hull coatings and LED lights.
“We’ve developed a recommended package for all our ships … it brings all the ships into line with technologies we’ve identified as being effective at improving energy efficiency and waste management,” he said.
After seeing the results of an air lubrication system on a pair of newbuilds, that technology has now been retrofitted to a handful of existing ships, where Carnival first equipped the ships with the fastest itineraries in the fleet that would benefit the most.
Hull Coating
““Following the pause period, and with ships returning to service, they needed hull cleaning and we needed to understand which ones needed it the most,” Millman explained.
New is a remote hull cleaning drone that also collects all the fouling of the hull, alleviating concerns from port authorities and letting Carnival evaluate what was on the hull.
With no shortage of hull coating options available, different water temperatures ship speeds and itinerary patterns, the company is constantly evaluating new hull paint.
Carnival ships are sailing globally with different hull coatings, and test patches of new coatings.
“In one case we coated a whole hull with completely new paint. It has proven to be very successful,” Millman said. “We haven’t seen it through to the end of five years yet but we are moving to do another couple of trials.”
Support
Supporting initiatives include a host of subject matter experts at the corporate level – whether it’s a hydrodynamics wizard, a waste heat genius or other top minds in specific fields.
“The background assistance is there for the brands,” said Millman.
Getting pitched all the time with the latest emissions-saving gadgets, the corporate technology team goes through potential projects, brings in subject matter help and then evaluates proposals.
“We would then prioritize what to trial depending on what we feel would bring the best ROI on improving energy efficiency,” Millman said. “Then run the trial and report back.”
Company-wide, a technical team gathers twice a year for two to three days, going through all the projects, providing updates and making decisions on where the future focus should go.
“The biggest (future) tech initiative will be on alternative fuels … that is a major way to decarbonization.”
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