On June 18, 2020 there was a premiere at Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven. The tanker Kairo belonging to the Hamburg-based company Nauticor, conducted the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering in a Bremerhaven The bunker vessel had transported the liquid gas to the Columbus Quay from Bremerhaven’s twin-town Pori in Finland. The total volume was about 1,300 cubic metres of liquefied natural gas. For fifteen hours it was pumped from the Kairo to P&O Cruises' Iona using a cryogenic hose capable of withstanding temperatures as low as minus 160 degrees Celsius.
The cruise vessel Iona was built by the Meyer yard in Papenburg and is currently undergoing its final outfitting at Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven. It is one of the first cruise vessels worldwide to be equipped with LNG engines. During the bunkering operation at CCCB, the LNG-tanks on board the Iona were filled for the first time, allowing the LNG propelling system to commence.
