Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line, a unit of Carnival Corporation, will add another LNG-powered vessel to its fleet as part of a move revealed on Wednesday.
The US cruise line said in a statement it would take over the newbuilding slot originally reserved for its Germany-based sister firm AIDA Cruises, also a unit of Carnival, at the Meyer Werft yard in Papenburg.
This is the third LNG-powered cruise vessel the German yard is building for Carnival’s AIDA Cruises. The yard delivered AIDAnova, claimed to be the world’s first ocean liner with an LNG drive system, back in 2018, while the second vessel AIDAcosma should make its debut this year.
With a gross tonnage of 183,200 and a length of 337 meters, the vessel will have 20 decks and space for 2,600 staterooms.
Carnival Cruise Line also said on Wednesday it would take ownership of Costa Magica from another of its European sister lines, Costa Cruises.
This vessel would go through a dry dock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion and would join Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet by mid-2022.
Three LNG-powered vessels
The two ships add to LNG-powered Mardi Gras, Carnival’s first Excel-class ship. Mardi Gras will start sailing from Port Canaveral on July 31.
In addition, Carnival will also take delivery of its sister ship Carnival Celebration from Meyer Turku in 2022. This LNG-powered vessel should start sailing from Miami in late 2022.
The addition of these four ships would bring the Carnival fleet to 27 by year-end 2023, including three LNG-powered ships.
“We are excited about these additions to our fleet which reflect the strong position that Carnival has established in the US, the pent-up demand we continue to see for cruise vacations, and the overall plans by Carnival Corporation to optimize capacity and growth in key markets,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
“While our immediate focus is on our restart of guest operations this summer, this is another cause for excitement at Carnival, and we will be announcing more detailed plans about homeports, itineraries and ship names very soon,” Duffy said.