Carnival Spirit Fitted With Cruise Industry's First Smokeless Diesel Engines

In a working partnership between Carnival Corp. and the Finnish marine power systems supplier Wärtsilä, the new 86,000-ton cruise ship Carnival Spirit will be fitted with the cruise industry's first smokeless diesel engines.

The Carnival Spirit, the first ship in a new class for Carnival Cruise Lines, is currently under construction at Kvaerner Masa-Yards and is expected to enter service in late spring 2001. Its inaugural season will include two Panama Canal sailings, a series of Alaska and Hawaii voyages, and a new eight-day schedule from Miami.

Initially, two of the ship's six Wärtsilä 9L46D engines will be modified with the new "smokeless" engine technology. The new modified engines represent the culmination of a year-long project between Carnival and Wärtsilä to develop a new "earth-friendly" power system, dubbed project EnviroEngine. The modified engines, part of a diesel-electric propulsion system, represent one of the most environmentally-friendly power plants ever made available for cruise ships, exceeding the international standards for emissions set out in MARPOL Annex VI.

"We are very pleased to install these state-of-the-art engines in the "Carnival Spirit" and look forward to the many environmental benefits provided by this important new technology. Carnival's cooperation and support has been very important to us," said Ole Johansson, president and CEO of Wärtsilä.

The two Wärtsilä 46 EnviroEngines use a common rail fuel injection system which enables injection pressures to be kept sufficiently high at all engine speeds - even at the lowest levels - to ensure clean combustion with no visible smoke emissions. The EnviroEngines will be particularly beneficial for use in port, as they produce no visible emissions even when lightly loaded for producing energy for lighting, air conditioning and other hotel systems.

The EnviroEngine design is expected to be used for other vessels currently under construction, including 86,000-ton ships by Carnival Cruise Lines and for sister companies Holland America and Costa. Existing ships can be refitted by replacing the current fuel injection pumps with common rail components.