Fincantieri Delivers LNG-Ready Mein Schiff Flow to TUI Cruises
The ship can carry three thousand nine hundred eighty-four passengers and has a heat-processing system that converts organic waste into recyclable material.
Fincantieri delivered Mein Schiff Flow to TUI Cruises on June 12 at its Monfalcone shipyard, completing the initial two-ship InTUItion-class order for the Mein Schiff fleet. The dual-fuel cruise ship is designed to operate on liquefied natural gas or marine gas oil. It is TUI Cruises’ ninth vessel.
With capacity for 3,984 passengers and a gross tonnage of about 160,000, Mein Schiff Flow joins sister ship Mein Schiff Relax among the largest ships in the line’s fleet.
Monfalcone remains tied to the InTUItion class
The delivery ceremony brought together TUI Cruises CEO Wybcke Meier and Fincantieri executives including Chairman Biagio Mazzotta, CEO and Managing Director Pierroberto Folgiero, Merchant Ships Division General Manager Luigi Matarazzo and Monfalcone shipyard Director Cristiano Bazzara. Local authorities in attendance included Gorizia Prefect Ester Fedullo and Monfalcone Mayor Luca Fasan.
“With the delivery of Mein Schiff Flow, we celebrate a new milestone in our collaboration with TUI Cruises and reaffirm the strategic role of the Monfalcone shipyard,” Folgiero said. The delivery announcement did not include a separate statement from TUI Cruises leadership.
The September 2025 contract between Fincantieri and TUI Cruises covers two additional InTUItion-class vessels, sister ships to Mein Schiff Relax and Mein Schiff Flow, for delivery in 2031 and 2032. Fincantieri said more than 45 cruise ships have been built at Monfalcone, where about 6,500 people work each day.
Ship systems target lower-emission port operations
Mein Schiff Flow is prepared to use lower-emission alternative fuels including bio-LNG and e-LNG as those fuels become available. Its emissions package includes Euro 6-standard catalytic converters, a steam-turbine system that recovers residual heat from diesel-generator operations and an electrical shore-power connection.
Fincantieri said the systems allow near-zero-emission operations while the ship is alongside in ports with suitable infrastructure, with time at berth accounting for about 40 percent of the vessel’s operational time. The ship also has a waste-treatment system that uses heat processing to convert organic waste into recyclable material.
First sailings and revised winter program
With the handover complete, TUI Cruises is preparing to put the ship into passenger service from Trieste. The first guests are scheduled to board June 14 for a three-night preview cruise, followed by an eight-night christening voyage departing June 18 from Trieste to Palma de Mallorca, with calls including Koper, Palermo and a return visit to Trieste during the sailing.
Palma is scheduled to serve as Mein Schiff Flow’s summer base, with Mediterranean roundtrips calling at Civitavecchia for Rome, Marseille and either Ajaccio or La Spezia. On Sept. 13, the ship is scheduled to begin an 11-night Iberian Peninsula program with calls including Barcelona, Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz, Tangier and Lisbon, before later Northern Europe itineraries from Hamburg.
TUI Cruises has also shifted the ship’s winter program away from the Arabian Gulf to German homeports because of the geopolitical situation. To support sales of the revised 2026-27 winter itineraries, the line is offering travel agents an additional two percent commission on FIT bookings made by July 31 and has extended the early-booking period for the new winter cruises to the same date.
The christening ceremony is scheduled for June 20 in Trieste, with live acts, music and art performances in the program. TUI selected three passenger godmothers, Julia, Annabelle and Karin, from about 900 applicants after 15,000 fan votes.
