Jun 17 - Government Says LNG Plans “Further Vindicated” By Carnival Corporation Announcement
The Government says it notes with satisfaction the announcement by Carnival Cruise Corporation that it has ordered four mega cruise ships that will be powered by LNG hybrid engines.
An announcement from Carnival discloses that each ship will have 5,000 lower berths and a total capacity of 6,600 passengers—giving them the largest guest capacity in the world, outsizing even Royal Caribbean's 6,400-passenger Oasis-class ships. Tonnage will exceed 180,000gt.
The corporation has also confirmed that the four new ships will use LNG in dual-powered hybrid engines to power the ships both in port and on the open sea. LNG will be stored on board and used to generate 100% power at sea. Using LNG to power the ships in port and at sea will eliminate emissions of soot particles and sulphur oxides.
The Government, as well as local operators, have already been in touch with Carnival about the potential for these ships to call at Gibraltar and receive LNG fuel whilst in port.
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "This demonstrates that the use of LNG is becoming mainstream around the world and in particular in the shipping industry. It also demonstrates how safe a fuel LNG is. An American corporation like Carnival Cruises would not put 6,500 passengers in a situation of unacceptable risk or danger. As a Government we have already got in touch with Carnival to ensure that we see these new ships, which will be the largest cruise ships in the world, call at Gibraltar, refuelling and bringing us huge numbers of tourists. Given that the Opposition have already said that they will not allow LNG bunkering or the operation of an LNG facility storage and regasification facility, which is exactly what these vessels have on board, the public can clearly see that the position of Mr Feetham is highly detrimental to Gibraltar's economic interests, from tourism to bunkering and the cost of electricity generation. Would he now propose to ban these Carnival ships coming to Gibraltar? Would he ban Gibraltarians from cruising on them? The nonsensical nature of the GSD’s arguments is slowly being exposed. The danger to our economy of their opportunistic position is becoming palpable. The safe future of marine propulsion, power generation and bunkering is clearly in the use of LNG. That is where we will position Gibraltar for maximum economic advantage."
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