MSC Group Announces Expansion of Cruise Division’s Shore Power Plan

MSC Group’s Cruise Division has unveiled its next expansion phase for its Shore Power Plan. MSC cruise ships will be able to utilize shoreside charging stations in 15 new ports between 2024 and 2026. The initiative continues MSC Group’s commitment to reducing emissions from the company’s fleet while docked.

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The new ports set to receive these charging stations include:

• Miami, United States
• Barcelona, Spain
• Valencia, Spain
• Stavanger, Norway
• Nordfjordeid, Norway
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Marseille, France
• Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Valletta, Malta
• Stockholm, Sweeden
• Five other Italian ports

Once the shore power stations become available, all MSC Cruises ships, along with the Explora Journey’s fleet, will be able to use the facilities. In addition, the company will also be utilizing charging stations in the German ports of Hamburg this winter, and Kiel in the summer of 2024. Using electricity from the ports eliminates the need for ships to keep their engines running, dramatically reducing in-port emissions from vessels.

“Shore power is an important factor on our journey toward net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) operations,” said VP of Sustainability & ESG for MSC Cruises Linden Coppell.

Since February 2023, the brand’s fleet has been able to utilize shoreside power at the ports of Southampton, United Kingdom, and Kristiansand, Norway. The company will begin testing its new facilities in the Norwegian port of Haugesund later this summer. Additional testing is scheduled for this year in Bergen and Alesund in Norway, along with Warnemunde in Germany.

Last year, MSC Cruises signed a memorandum of understanding with Cruise Baltic regarding shore power in the Baltic Sea area. With 32 ports and destinations in the Baltic region, Cruise Baltic is committed to increasing the amount of available shore power facilities.

Since 2017, MSC Cruises’ fleet has been equipped with shore power capabilities. Along with retrofits to older vessels, 67 percent of the company’s fleet is capable of using shore power facilities. As more ports make shore power available, more of the company’s fleet will be upgraded to use the facilities.

Explora Journeys’ entire fleet will be shore power-compatible. The first ship in their fleet, EXPLORA I, will enter service on July 17, 2023.

“All of our newbuilds since 2017 are equipped with the ability to plug into local power grids and we are rolling out retrofits on the other vessels in our fleet,” said Coppell. “Our shore power plan actively demonstrates our ambition and that we are fully committed to reducing emissions from our ships, including while in port. We have invested heavily in hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems to substantially reduce local air quality emissions and we now need more ports across Europe and beyond to introduce shore power as quickly as possible. By making major reductions to emissions in ports, we are fulfilling our responsibility to the ports and coastal communities that our ships visit and serve. Together with the use of LNG fuel, improving energy efficiency, utilizing innovative wastewater treatment and waste recycling, we are making positive strides in playing our part to address climate change and protect ocean biodiversity.”

MSC Euribia, MSC Cruises’ newest flagship, boasts the world’s most energy-efficient cruise ship design and performed an industry-first earlier this month, demonstrating a ship’s potential to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions using renewable bio-LNG while sailing from France to Denmark.

What do you think about ships utilizing Shore Power? Let us know in the comments!

By Ethan Leckie