By
Alex Smith |
MSC Cruises and the Port of Kiel have inaugurated the shore power facility at the Ostuferhafen Terminal during the call of the cruise line’s flagship MSC Euribia.
The inauguration ceremony in the German port was attended by Daniel Günther, Prime Minister of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, and Ulf Kämpfer, Lord Mayor of Kiel. Also in attendance were representatives of the port management, technical partner Siemens, MSC Euribia’s master of the vessel Captain Christopher Pugh, and senior representatives of the cruise line.
MSC Cruises signed an agreement in June 2023 for its ships to connect to Kiel’s local power grid when it calls at the port during summer 2024 for the electricity needs of its hotel operations while at berth. MSC Euribia will also use the shore power facility at Hamburg, Germany, during its winter 2023/24 season in Northern Europe.
Since February 2023, MSC’s ships have used shore power at the Port of Southampton in the UK and Kristiansand in Norway. It has also conducted successful test trials at the Norwegian ports of Haugesund, Bergen and Alesund, as well as Warnemunde in Germany.
Shore power has been fitted on all MSC Cruises’ new ships since 2017, and 67 per cent of the cruise line’s total capacity is equipped with the technology. It plans to retrofit more of its ships as the ports on its itineraries make shore power available.
“The inauguration of shoreside power at Kiel’s Ostuferhafen terminal is another step forward on our decarbonisation journey,” said Linden Coppell, vice president of sustainability and environmental, social and corporate governance. “We expect around 15 new ports between 2024 and 2026 to be added to the list of ports with shore-power facilities that MSC Cruises can use to access the electricity grids in Europe. This further demonstrates our commitment to, and continued progress towards, decarbonisation, as well as reducing emissions from our vessels while berthed in ports.”