Japan's 'biggest' cruise ship fills up with LNG at Yokohama Port

Japan’s ‘largest cruise ship ever’, the ASUKA III, recently received liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Port of Yokohama, marking the inaugural LNG bunkering operation for a vessel of this type in the country.

According to NYK Cruises, an arm of Japan’s maritime industry major NYK Group, Asuka III was supplied with liquefied natural gas at the Osanbashi Yokohama International Passenger Terminal from June 10 to June 11.

The bunkering was reportedly done using the truck-to-ship transport method. This is a process where LNG-powered ships dock at a berth capable of supplying the fuel, which, in turn, is transferred from onshore tank trucks.

Over the course of two days, NYK Cruises said that a total of four tanks were used to supply liquefied natural gas to the 52,200 dwt Asuka III. As informed, this marked the “first ever” LNG bunkering operation involving a cruise ship in the East Asian nation.

The 230-meter-long and 29.8-meter-wide cruise ship, the construction of which began in fall 2023, was floated out of German shipbuilder Meyer Werft’s building dock in