June 11, 2024 – Yesterday Wybcke Meier and Frank Kuhlmann, CEO and CFO of TUI Cruises, officially took over the brand new Mein Schiff 7 from the Finnish Meyer Turku. Mein Schiff 7 is the seventh cruise ship built in Finland in the Mein Schiff fleet.
The first steel cutting of the Mein Schiff 7 was completed on 14 June 2022 in Turku. Almost two years later, the handover of the Mein Schiff 7 to TUI Cruises. With this ship, the Hamburg cruise line is setting new impulses for sustainability in cruise shipping.
Mein Schiff 7 will initially be the first ship in the Mein Schiff fleet to be operated exclusively with lower-emission marine diesel (sulfur content max. 0,1 percent). As with the previous new buildings, the ship is equipped with catalytic converters (nitrogen oxide reduction: around 75 percent) and a shore power connection. In the future, the Mein Schiff 7 is set up to use methanol as fuel. This technical innovation also includes “green” methanol. It would make ship propulsion almost CO2 neutral. In a study, NABU comes to the conclusion that e-methanol would make shipping more climate-friendly. The fuel is less harmful to the environment than ammonia or heavy oil and is easier to use.
My Ship 7 – Photo © TUI Cruises
The possible use of methanol by the Mein Schiff 7 uses technical equipment such as tanks and pipe systems for methanol or green methanol propulsion. The technical component for the methanol drive of four-stroke engines is currently being developed. As far as the rest of the fleet is concerned, methanol propulsion and thus conversion is an option for the future. The Mein Schiff 7 plays a central role in showing how this drive works in real ship operation. Based on these findings, TUI Cruises will decide on possible retrofits for the other ships in the fleet.
Mein Schiff 7 – Italian restaurant – Photo © TUI Cruises
Waste processing on board the ship has been made even more efficient. Organic waste is shredded using thermal treatment and prepared for further use on land. The biological waste goes through the innovative "HydroTreat system". The liquid parts of the waste are separated using heat and pressure and fed into the ship's own wastewater treatment system. The end result is purified wastewater at the level of the most modern sewage treatment plants on land. The solid parts of the waste are transformed into so-called BioChar. This is considered to be multi-talented in agriculture - for example for soil improvement or as a feed additive.
As far as the interior and design are concerned: The Mein Schiff 7 is a sister ship of the Mein Schiff 1 and the My Ship 2. It offers many things that TUI Cruises guests appreciate, as well as numerous new highlights. This includes a new design, additional cabin categories and culinary highlights. My ship 7 is currently catching up Kiel. The first “anticipation ride” of the new arrival starts there