• Hapag-Lloyd Cruises uses call at San Diego for supply of shore power

• Shore power utilisation as an important component in reducing CO2 emissions

• Premiere route for the EUROPA 2 along the West Coast of America

Double premiere for the EUROPA 2: while the small luxury ship is travelling along the diverse West Coast of America, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has used its maiden call at San Diego to promote the use of shore power outside Europe as well. Sailing from San Francisco to Colon, guests on this special route await experiences including the world’s most famous suspension bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, glamorous Hollywood flair in Los Angeles and a daytime passage through the Panama Canal. For the first time, the EUROPA 2 is making stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bahia Magdalena, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, Puerto Quetzal and Puntarenas on this cruise – making it a route full of firsts for the ship, crew and guests.

In 2020, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises used the EUROPA 2’s pandemic-related lay time in Hamburg to complete testing for the successful use of the shore power system at the Cruise Center Altona and have it approved by the DNV. Since then, the EUROPA 2 is able to use shore power anywhere in the world wherever this energy supply is available. The use of shore power significantly reduces CO2 and pollutant emissions in the port. There are currently around 25 ports worldwide with shore power systems for cruise ships. “The use of shore power is a key component of our sustainability strategy and enables virtually climate-neutral ship operations in the port. For this year, we are currently planning around 20 more calls in nine ports worldwide where we will use shore power across the entire fleet,” says Julian Pfitzner, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, about the plans of the leading provider of luxury and expedition cruises in the German-speaking market.

By 2030, TUI Group’s cruise operators, including Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, are set to reduce their absolute CO2e emissions by more than a quarter (27.5 %) compared to 2019. These ambitious emission reduction targets have been independently and scientifically verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative. The main levers for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ ambitious decarbonization programme are the optimization of itineraries and speeds, operational and technical energy efficiency measures, the use of sustainable and climate-friendly biofuels and the continuous expansion of the use of shore power. The EUROPA 2 was the first cruise ship in the world to be fitted with SCR catalytic converters. The catalytic converters reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by almost 95 percent.

After San Diego, the EUROPA 2 will use shore power in seven more ports in the course of the year. Montreal will be another first in North America. Shore power will also be available in the Norwegian ports of Oslo, Bergen, Ålesund and Kristiansand as well as at the Cruise Center in Hamburg Altona and at the Ostseekai in Kiel.

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