Cruise Ship Mein Schiff 7 Completes Methanol Bunkering Demonstration

September 2 ------ A demonstration bunkering and trial of methanol was completed with the cruise ship Mein Schiff 7, which was also the first cruise ship to be built methanol-ready. According to TUI Cruises and the companies supplying and bunkering the methanol, it was a critical test to demonstrate that the systems exist to use the emerging fuel for the cruise sector.

Mein Schiff 7 (115,000 gross tons) was delivered in 2024 with designs to be the first cruise ship to be methanol-ready. The cruise line said at the time it was waiting for additional parts but anticipated it could proceed with tests by 2026. While it is using low-sulfur diesel for propulsion, it was now able to proceed with the demonstration bunkering.

The cruise ship was supplied with 25 cubic meters of methanol from renewable feedstocks. MB Energy provided the fuel, which was loaded from a truck operated by Johs. Martens. TUI Cruises reports the fuel will be used primarily for boil operations onboard.

“The operation shows that lower carbon fuels like methanol from renewable feedstocks can already be integrated into cruise operations in a safe and reliable way,” says Jonathan Perkins, CEO of MB Energy.

By safely and reliably supplying methanol to the large cruise ship with around 2,900 passengers on board, and while multiple simultaneous operations were happening at the pier, MB Energy and TUI Cruises said they have jointly demonstrated system readiness for this mode of delivery. This proof of concept, they said, provides valuable operational experience for the future.

MB Energy highlights that it is working to support the maritime sector’s transition to more sustainable operations. The company says it is currently developing its storage infrastructure in Hamburg-Blumensand to be “methanol-ready,” enabling the supply of larger volumes of lower carbon ammonia and methanol to maritime customers in the future. Hamburg and Kiel will serve as the company’s primary operational hubs in northern Germany, with the flexibility and ambition to also supply other European ports.

Jörg Umann, Director Strategic Planning, Treasury, IR and Fuel at TUI Cruises noted, “For TUI Cruises, this project provided valuable operational experience with the supply and handling of certified renewable methanol under real operating conditions. While the methanol from renewable feedstocks supplied during this operation is used for boiler operations rather than propulsion, projects like this help us better understand how alternative fuels can contribute to reducing emissions as part of a broader carbon reduction strategy.”

It is also part of TUI Cruises’ broader effort to expand its sustainable operations and reduce emissions. The company built two LNG-fueled cruise ships in its new InTUItion-class (Mein Schiff Relax and Mein Schiff Flow, each 157,651 gross tons). They can use LNG or marine gas oil for propulsion, or they can also use renewable LNG (bio-LNG or e-LNG) without technical modifications.

The company ran tests twice bunkering Mein Schiff Relax with bio-LNG in 2025. This year it is using the renewable fuel for its entire summer season in Northern Europe. Her sister ship Mein Schiff Flow also began regularly bunkering with bio-LNG this year in Barcelona. It will continue to use the renewable fuel through its winter season during cruises from Hamburg.

TUI was the first of several cruise lines to begin exploring methanol. Disney Cruise Line also prepared its new ship Disney Adventure to sail on methanol but, saying that green methanol was not expected to be readily available in its Singapore homeport, the ship would operate on a mix of sustainable and low-emission fuels, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Celebrity Cruises built a ship in France for which Wartsila converted the engine to be tri-fuel, including the ability to handle methanol. Norwegian Cruise Line, working with Fincantieri, also announced that the fifth and sixth ships of its Prima class would be designed for methanol, while the cruise line was also working with Everllence (MAN) to explore methanol conversions for its existing cruise ships.

Source: maritime-executive.com