TotalEnergies Marine Fuels and the Cruise Division of MSC Group have successfully completed the first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering operation at the Port of Marseille Fos, Southern France, for MSC Cruises’ MSC World Europa.
MSC World Europa was delivered in October 2022 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at the Saint Nazaire shipyard in France. Its length is 333 meters long and is the best-performing large cruise ship operating in terms of CO2eq emissions per passenger, according to MSC.
TotalEnergies Marine Fuels’ chartered LNG bunker barge, the Gas Vitality, refuelled the MSC Cruises vessel via a ship-to-ship transfer of 2,500 m³ of LNG at the French port on 22 April, while guest operations continued as normal.
The operation marks the agreement between TotalEnergies and Cruise Division of MSC Group, under which TotalEnergies Marine Fuels will supply approximately 45,000 tons per year of LNG to MSC Cruises’ vessels at Marseille.
Patrick Pourbaix, managing director of MSC Cruises in France, commented, “This first LNG bunkering operation in Marseille is an important milestone for our company as we welcome MSC World Europa for her first summer season in the Mediterranean.”
He added, “Featuring a range of unprecedented innovations in terms of environmental and marine technologies MSC World Europa represents a major step forward on our journey towards meeting our target of net-zero emissions by 2050.”
