Barcelona’s milestone in bioLNG cruise bunkering

During the operation, the barge Haugesund Knutsen, owned by Knutsen Group and under charter by Shell, supplied 1,875 m³ of bioLNG to TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff Relax in a landmark ship-to-ship port bunkering operation.

For the port, the supply operation to the Mein Schiff Relax could be described as a “kilometre zero operation” since it was carried out entirely at the Port of Barcelona, with the source of the supplied bioLNG the Enagás regasification plant at the Energy Wharf. 

“Transitioning from a transitional fuel like fossil LNG to a sustainable fuel like bioLNG represents a significant qualitative leap in the energy transition process and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the freight transport sector, especially in maritime transport,” the port said in a statement.

Barge supply

In 2024, 23% of cruise calls to Barcelona already operated on fossil LNG, which already cuts CO₂ emissions by around 20% compared to traditional marine fuel. Switching to bioLNG represents another significant leap forward in emissions reduction.

The operation to the Mein Schiff Relax cruise ship was the second bioLNG supply operation carried out at the Port of Barcelona.

Last March, the shipping company Baleària loaded bioLNG onto one of its vessels, although that time the supply was carried out by tanker truck, unlike the ship-to-ship operation performed for the cruise ship.

The port said that supply from a barge significantly speeds up the loading operation, increasing the amount of fuel loaded by more than 15 times, thereby facilitating maximum efficiency and decarbonisation.

For TUI Cruises, the Mein Schiff Relax is a flagship in sustainable cruising, almost exclusively LNG-powered and designed for future fuels operation.