Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Repsol Sign Long-Term Agreement to Supply Renewable Fuels in Barcelona
MIAMI, Oct. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) and Repsol today announced a landmark 8-year agreement to supply renewable marine fuels at the Port of Barcelona, establishing an unprecedented long-term relationship within the cruise industry.
Beginning in the 2026 European season, Repsol will offer a portfolio of renewable fuels, including biofuels and, from 2029, renewable methanol, directly to NCLH's vessels across its cruise brands—Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises—when calling at the Port of Barcelona.
"This partnership is an excellent example of how cross-industry collaboration can unlock meaningful progress," said Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. "Securing long-term access to renewable marine fuels at a key European port aligns directly with our Sail & Sustain® program and demonstrates our commitment to advancing towards a more sustainable future."
"This milestone agreement highlights that renewable fuels are ready to play a key role in reducing the carbon footprint of the maritime sector. By partnering with NCLH, one of the world's leading cruise companies, we show that renewable fuels are already deployable at scale to immediately start reducing emissions at sea," said Juan Abascal, Repsol's Executive Managing Director for Industrial Transformation and Circular Economy.
The agreement between NCLH and Repsol was established based on the changing international regulatory environment and both companies' pursuit of Net Zero by 2050. All fuels provided under the agreement are certified under the ISCC EU framework and meet the standards necessary to support NCLH's environmental compliance and decarbonization roadmap.
The renewable methanol will be produced at Repsol's Ecoplanta facility in Tarragona (Spain), a pioneering project in Europe to transform urban waste into renewable fuels and circular products, adding a solution for reducing CO₂ emissions in the transport sector, while at the same time promoting the circular economy. The new plant—set to begin operations in 2029— will have the capacity to process up to 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year and turn them into 240,000 tons of renewable fuels and circular products. NCLH is the first company to sign an offtake agreement for renewable methanol from the Ecoplanta facility.
This alliance underscores NCLH's commitment to advancing low-carbon fuel solutions and supporting the circular economy, while maintaining operational flexibility and cost efficiency across its fleet. It also directly supports the company's global program, Sail & Sustain®, a company-wide initiative focused on reducing greenhouse gas intensity, investing in innovative fuel solutions, and fostering collaboration across the value chain. As part of its 2026 "Charting the Course" targets, the company is working to achieve a 10 percent reduction in GHG intensity by 2026 and 25 percent by 2030.1
Renewable fuels are central to Repsol's strategy to supply solutions to cut CO₂ emissions across all transport sectors. They are an already available alternative for decarbonizing current and future vehicles, without the need to change engines or modify existing distribution and refueling infrastructures. In Cartagena (Spain), the company operates the region's first renewable diesel and SAF plant (250,000 t/year), and it is building a second plant in Puertollano (200,000 t/year), due in 2026. Next year, it will also start operations at its synthetic fuels demo plant in Bilbao. The company supplies renewable diesel at over 1,300 service stations in Spain and Portugal, aiming for 1,500 by year-end, making it one of the largest 100% renewable fuel networks in Europe. Repsol is also the Iberian Peninsula's leading supplier of SAF, supporting aviation decarbonization and compliance with the EU's 2% mandate.
About Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) is a leading global cruise company which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. With a combined fleet of 34 ships and more than 71,000 Berths, NCLH offers itineraries to approximately 700 destinations worldwide. NCLH expects to add 13 additional ships across its three brands through 2036, which will add over 38,400 Berths to its fleet. To learn more, visit www.nclhltd.com.
About Repsol
Repsol is a multi-energy company capable of meeting all its customers' energy needs, both at home and on the move. The company currently employs 25,000 people in over 20 countries and serves 24 million customers. The company is transforming its industrial complexes on the Iberian Peninsula into multi-energy hubs capable of processing a wide variety of feedstocks and waste materials. These will be used to produce low-carbon products, such as 100% renewable fuels. To learn more, visit www.repsol.com/en.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding NCLH's Sail & Sustain program, sustainability goals and initiatives, may be forward-looking statements. Many, but not all, of these statements can be found by looking for words like "expect," "goal," "project," "plan," "believe," "will," "may," "estimate," "intend," "future" and similar words. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and may involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and other factors, please refer to the factors set forth under the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" in NCLH's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors are not exhaustive and new risks emerge from time to time. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections regarding our present and future business strategies and the environment in which we expect to operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change of events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement was based, except as required by law.
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1 GHG intensity is measured by MTCO2e on a per Capacity Day basis. The targets cover NCLH's emissions from its fleet of ships, islands and facilities (Scopes 1 & 2) as well as upstream fuel- and energy-related activities, including well-to-tank emissions (portion of Scope 3). Capacity Days is defined as berths available for sale multiplied by the number of cruise days for the period for ships in service.
NCLH Media: [email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b680c492-9f09-4145-b79e-cce1e55031cf
