ABB and Carnival cooperate on electric ship maintenance

ABB and Carnival Corporation have entered into a 15-year maintenance agreement. The contract covers all of Carnival's cruise ships equipped with ABB's Azipod XO electric propulsion system.

In addition to systematic maintenance planning and spare parts management, the collaboration will also include digital solutions for condition monitoring. The order was booked in the third quarter of 2023, ABB has now announced. So the signing was already a few weeks ago.

Briefly, ABB received its first Azipod order in 1995 for Carnival Cruise Line’s CarnivalElation. After the drive was also selected for a second ship, Carnival Corporation has equipped more than 40 cruise ships of its various brands with the Azipod drive.

In the gearless Azipod system, the electric drive is mounted in a pod on the ship’s hull and can be rotated 360 degrees. According to ABB, this increases manoeuvrability and efficiency and reduces fuel consumption by up to 20 per cent compared to conventional shaft drives. Since its first installation on a cruise ship over 25 years ago, Azipod technology has saved more than one million tonnes of fuel in the cruise segment alone, the manufacturer estimates.

“The agreement and its 15-year timeframe further strengthen the long-standing collaboration between ABB and Carnival Corporation. We take great pride in making sure Carnival Corporation’s cruise vessels get the full benefits of an optimized maintenance plan, service offering and access to our digital services around the world,” commented Juha Koskela, head of ABB’s Marine & Ports division.

“This agreement helps optimize our long-term fleet performance while supporting our ongoing efforts to further improve energy and fuel efficiency and reduce emissions throughout our global operations,” expresses Michael Kaczmarek, Senior Vice President, Marine Technology, Carnival Corporation. The predictability of maintenance costs and spare parts planning also brings clear long-term benefits in terms of planning, procedures and vessel performance. “We see this strategic and collaborative agreement as an excellent example of what can be achieved in our ship performance objectives through collaboration with our key technology suppliers,” says Kaczmarek.

abb.com