MSC Cruises to use bio-LNG on its first cruise ship

The cruise-arm of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has sourced around 400 mt of bio-LNG from gas supplier Gasum to use on its LNG-powered cruise ship MSC Euribia.

PHOTO: MSC Cruises' LNG-powered cruise ship MSC Euribia. MSC Cruises

The cruise ship will embark on a four-day voyage from the French Port of Saint-Nazaire to the Danish Port of Copenhagen on 3 June.

The Swiss cruise operator has not yet specified whether the voyage will be powered by pure liquefied biomethane (LBM) or by a blend of LBM and fossil LNG.

LBM, or bio-LNG, can function as a drop-in fuel in LNG, much like biofuels have been blended with VLSFO or MGO in an increasing number of recent trials by shipowners. This means that vessels capable of running on LNG will not have to make any modifications to run on pure LBM or LBM-LNG blends.

A report from the EU Joint Research Center shows that bio-LNG has a well-to-wake (WTW) value of 9.5 grams of CO2 equivalent per megajoule of energy in the fuel (gCO2eq/MJ). This is higher than synthetic e-LNG produced from renewable energy, which has a lower WTW value of 6.7 gCO2eq/MJ.

But while e-LNG theoretically has greater potential to reduce emissions in gCO2eq/MJ than bio-LNG on a WTW basis, both of these alternatives have significantly higher CO2 reduction potential than fossil LNG, and around 90-92% greater potential than oil-based fossil fuels.

Onboard energy-efficiency measures will also be implemented to help reduce the ship's fuel consumption, MSC Cruises said.

By Konica Bhatt

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