While on her winter season of cruises in the United Arab Emirates, the Costa Smeralda, flagship of the Costa fleet, received her liquefied natural gas refueling in Dubai. This is the first LNG cruise ship refueling at Dubai port.

The Costa Smeralda, flagship of the Costa fleet and sistership to Costa Toscana, has successfully completed her first liquefied natural gas refueling in the port of Dubai. This is the first time for a Liquified Natural Gas refuel operations to a cruise ship ever conducted at Dubai port, which was made possible thanks to Monjasa, the logistics provider and the cooperation of the Dubai Port Authority.

The “Green Zeebrugge” tanker ship filled Costa Smeralda’s three tanks with a total of around 3,000 cubic meters of LNG. All three are installed in specific protected spaces and built with steel called “cryogenic”, specially insulated material to maintain constant temp of -155 degrees to cool the LNG to its liquid state for use to power the ship’s engines. With one complete LNG tank filling, Costa Smeralda can be powered for at least 2.5 weeks.

The use of LNG in the cruise sector is currently the best readily available fuel to deliver immediate GHG emission reductions in the absence of market-ready zero-emission fuels for the maritime industry. LNG is considered among the cleanest fossil fuels because – in addition to reducing direct carbon emissions by up to 20% – it almost totally avoids emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide and particulate matter. LNG provides a viable step along the pathway to net-zero emissions from ship operations by 2050. It offers a roadmap to future fuels and propulsion technologies like bio LNG (biomethane) and other renewable fuels when they become available.

Moreover, Costa Smeralda presents a number of additional sustainability innovations. The entire daily supply of fresh water for the ship is met by transforming sea water using desalinators. Energy consumption is minimized thanks to an intelligent energy efficiency system based on optimization and conversion of resources to improve onboard energy-saving technologies that deliver an average of 5-6% fuel savings per ship 100% separate waste collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminum are carried out on board, which are part of an integrated approach aimed at implementing circular economy projects.

“Costa, as part of Carnival Corporation, is committed to leading the way in sustainable cruising. After being the first to introduce LNG in cruises, together with our sister brand AIDA Cruises, we are now also the first cruise line to use this technology in Dubai – stated Giuseppe Carino, Sea-Land Experience Operations Senior Vice President – On this direction, we are also developing the shore power technology on our fleet, and working on biofuels, new technologies and alternative fuels”.

Costa Smeralda reached Dubai on December 21st after her positioning cruise circumnavigating Africa from the Mediterranean. Until the end of February 2025, the ship will be on her winter season in the Emirates offering one-week cruises from Dubai with an itinerary exploring also Muscat (Oman) Doha (Qatar) and Abu Dhabi.

On March 1st, 2025 Costa Smeralda will depart from Dubai and she will return to the Mediterranean through a 37-day long cruise with planned calls in Oman, Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Canary Island, Morocco, Spain, France (Corsica) and arrival in Genoa scheduled on April 7th, 2025. Cruises towards Emirates and from Emirates to the Med with Costa Smeralda are available for bookings.