MSC’s cruise division to increase its use of shore power connections
MSC has announced that starting in May 2022 and continuing throughout the 2022 summer season, two of its cruise ships will consistently use shore power: MSC Virtuosa at the Port of Southampton’s new Horizon Cruise Terminal in the UK, and MSC Poesia in Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany (reportedly the largest shore power provider for cruise ships in Europe).
This follows the company’s 2021 commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Having investigated several new technologies to decarbonize company cruise operations, MSC believes the use of shore power to be an effective way to reduce the impact of cruise ships on port environments and surrounding communities when berthed.
“We look forward to using shore power in Southampton and Warnemünde throughout the summer season and we congratulate the port authorities for their forward thinking and innovative commitment,” said Linden Coppell, director of sustainability at MSC Cruises. “We at MSC Cruises are continuously striving to improve our environmental footprint, and shore power allows us to do so by drastically reducing our ships’ emissions while berthed. We need more ports in other key markets in Europe to introduce shore power as quickly as possible, thus joining our efforts toward net-zero emissions by 2050 and greatly reducing our local air emissions.”