Costa Cruises has announced that while on her winter season of cruises in the United Arab Emirates, the Costa Smeralda became the first cruise ship to bunker LNG in Dubai.

Costa said in a press release that the refueling was made possible by Monjasa, the logistics provider and the cooperation of the Dubai Port Authority.

The “Green Zeebrugge” tanker ship filled the Costa Smeralda’s three tanks with 3,000 cubic meters of LNG.

All three are installed in specific protected spaces and built with steel called “cryogenic”, specially insulated material to maintain a constant temperature of -155 degrees to cool the LNG to its liquid state to power the ship’s engines.

Costa added that with one complete LNG tank filling, the Costa Smeralda can be powered for at least 2.5 weeks.

“Costa, as part of Carnival Corporation, is committed to leading the way in sustainable cruising,” said Giuseppe Carino, sea-land experience operations senior vice president at Costa.

“After being the first to introduce LNG in cruises, together with our sister brand AIDA Cruises, we are now also the first cruise line to use this technology in Dubai,” added Carino.

“In this direction, we are also developing the shore power technology on our fleet and working on biofuels, new technologies and alternative fuels.”

The Costa Smeralda reached Dubai on Dec. 21, 2024, after her repositioning cruise circumnavigating Africa from the Mediterranean.

Until the end of February 2025, the ship will be on her winter season in the Emirates offering one-week cruises from Dubai with an itinerary exploring also Muscat (Oman) Doha (Qatar) and Abu Dhabi.

On March 1, 2025, the Costa Smeralda will depart from Dubai, and she will return to the Mediterranean through a 37-day long cruise with planned calls in Oman, Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, France (Corsica) and arrival in Genoa scheduled on April 7, 2025.