Only one week after the start of construction of Mein Schiff 7, TUI Cruises sets another milestone for sustainable growth: In San Giorgio di Nogaro, Italy, Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises, completed the first steel cutting, marking the start of two identical cruise ships for the Mein Schiff fleet started.
Both are being built by Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, and have a size of around 160,000 GT (gross tonnage), run on LNG, in the future also bio- or E-LNG. The completion of the first new building is planned for 2024, the second ship will follow in 2026. This will increase the Mein Schiff fleet to nine ships by 2026.
“We look forward to further developing the Mein Schiff concept together with Fincantieri. We are convinced that even more variety will inspire even more new cruise guests to vacation with us on board in the future. The passenger-space ratio remains generous, as does the proportion of balcony cabins,” says Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises. Details of the ship will be announced at a later date.
Luigi Matarazzo, General Manager of Fincantieri's Merchant Ships Division, says: "With the project of this new class of ships for TUI Cruises, Fincantieri is contributing to the ecological transformation in the cruise industry. In the first phase, a fuel with a low carbon footprint will be used to Significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; in the meantime, we are studying the possibility of running on biofuels, which will give further impetus to the decarbonization of the sector. Fincantieri intends to play an active role towards a more sustainable economy and society and to be one of the first positioning vendors to gain a key competitive advantage".
TUI Cruises is also focusing on environmental and climate protection with the new ship class: As announced, the new building will run on liquid gas. In the future, the ship can also be operated with low-emission and climate-friendly bio and E-LNG - an important step towards climate-neutral cruising. In addition, it will be equipped with improved catalytic converters (nitrogen oxide reduction to Euro 6 standard) and a shore power connection. This ensures almost zero-emission ship operation while the ship is in port (about 40 percent of the operating time). In order to achieve even more efficient waste processing, the ship will be equipped with an innovative system that can shred organic waste through thermal treatment and prepare it for further use on land.
“The investment in LPG-powered ships is an important milestone on the way to emission-free and climate-neutral cruises. LNG serves as a bridging technology here. In the future, we will use BIO LNG, which is generated either from biogenic sources or synthetically from renewable energy,” explains Wybcke Meier.
