For the first time, MSC Cruises’ Euribia connected to the shore power facility at the Ostuferhafen cruise terminal in Kiel over the weekend.

The port’s local power grid supplied electricity for the ship’s operations while at berth to eliminate direct emissions with engines switched off. 

The MSC Euribia will use shore power up to 20 times in Kiel during the summer season.  

Bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel was also completed at Kiel before the Euribia set sail on her seven-night voyage to Copenhagen in Denmark.

This marks the first time these two processes took place simultaneously.

Michele Francioni, chief energy transition officer at MSC Cruises, said: “We made a commitment to increase our use of shore power whenever it becomes available to us, and we are pleased with this new milestone we achieved in Kiel at the weekend and two weeks ago in Hamburg for MSC Preziosa.

 “We now need more ports across Europe and beyond to provide shore power so that we can further reduce local air emissions. We will retrofit three additional ships in 2024 – MSC Magnifica, MSC Musica and MSC Splendida – with shore power connectivity to ensure that our ships are ready to plug into local electricity grids wherever the infrastructure allows. This further demonstrates our commitment to, and continued progress towards, decarbonization, as well as reducing emissions from our vessels while berthed in ports.”

Launched in 2023, the MSC Euribia is the second ship in the line’s fleet powered by LNG.

By the end of this year, based on the availability of port infrastructure, MSC Cruises is set for at least 220 connections to local power, with 16 of its ships being equipped with shore power connectivity.