First bio-LNG supplied to cruise ship at Port of Barcelona
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
LNG Industry,
The Mein Schiff Relax, the first InTUItion class vessel of TUI Cruises, has led the first bio-LNG supply to a ship from a barge at the Port of Barcelona. The operation took place on 26 July 2025, when the barge Haugesund Knutsen, from Knutsen Scale Gas and chartered by Shell, supplied 1875 m3 of bio-LNG from the regasification plant operated by Enagás at the port.
Bio-LNG, or liquefied biomethane, is considered a sustainable fuel by the European Commission due to its production process from organic waste. By utilising this waste, it allows for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by between 70 – 100%, depending on the origin of the organic matter, throughout the production and consumption cycle. In practice, this circular economy process decarbonises ship operations, in this case the Mein Schiff Relax cruise ship, in line with the decarbonisation commitments set by the FuelEU Maritime Directive.
Bio-LNG has the same characteristics as fossil LNG, so it can be used by any ship equipped to operate with LNG, such as the most modern cruise ships operating at the Port of Barcelona, which are regularly supplied with LNG – specifically 23% of the calls registered in 2024. Transitioning from a transitional fuel like fossil LNG, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 20% compared to traditional fuel, to a sustainable fuel like bio-LNG 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 operation to the Mein Schiff Relax cruise ship was the second bio-LNG supply operation carried out at the Port of Barcelona. In March 2024, the shipping company Baleària loaded bio-LNG 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. Supply from a barge significantly speeds up the loading operation, increasing the amount of fuel loaded by more than 15 times, thereby facilitating the adoption of emission-neutral fuels in the maritime sector and enabling the decarbonisation of this activity.
The first ship-to-ship bio-LNG bunkering of the Mein Schiff Relax at the Port of Barcelona also marks a key milestone in delivering TUI Cruises’ Climate Protection Roadmap. As the first LNG-powered ship in the fleet, the Mein Schiff Relax is a flagship of this transition – operating almost exclusively on LNG. All new vessels are equipped with dual-fuel engines and prepared for next-generation fuels, like the Mein Schiff 7, which was added to the fleet last year, will be able to use green methanol. Further efforts include catalytic converters, exhaust gas scrubbers, digital routing tools, and investments in efficiency technologies like advanced hull coatings and cleaning robots.
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 Enagás regasification plant at the Energy Wharf being the source of the supplied bio-LNG. The Enagás terminal in Barcelona was recently certified according to the environmental, social, and traceability criteria established by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification of the European Union (ISCC EU) and the European Commission, allowing the fuel supplied to be certified as bio-LNG.
Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/small-scale-lng/06082025/first-bio-lng-supplied-to-cruise-ship-at-port-of-barcelona/