MSC Cruises ramps up shore power use
Five of MSC Cruises’ vessels have completed test and operational connections at four ports across Europe and North America over the last month, the company said in a LinkedIn post.
IMAGE: MSC's Cruise-ship Meraviglia. MSC Cruises.
MSC Explora II connected to shore power at the Maltese port of Valletta for the first time. Another MSC cruise ship, MSC World Europa, completed a year of shore power connectivity at Valletta this month.
Additionally, MSC Seaview successfully tested the new facility at Italy’s La Spezia port, while MSC Poesia became the first MSC cruise-ship to connect at France’s Le Havre.
Across the Atlantic, MSC Meraviglia became the first of the company’s ships to connect to shore power in New York.
Eighteen of MSC’s cruise-ship fleet are now shore-power enabled, with more ships expected to get retrofitted with necessary equipment in the future, while all newbuilds are being delivered with shore-power capability, the company said.
On-shore power supply can help ships cut their greenhouse gas emissions by using these connections instead of their auxiliary engines, burning fossil fuels while they are docked in port.
An EU-wide study by non-profit Transport & Environment (T&E) said in July that cruise ships produce more than six times more port-side emissions than container ships as they spend significantly more time at berth, and plugging into shore power can cut a ship’s total yearly emissions by a fifth.
By Nachiket Tekawade
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