Yesterday at the Maritime Station of the port of Naples it was carried out a ship-to-ship bunkering operation of natural gas which is the first made by the Swiss Axpo on a cruise ship in Italy. Fuel has been dispensed to Princess Cruises' Sun Princess from the barge Green Zeebrugge, already employed in LNG bunkering in the port of Genoa inaugurated at the end of the last year ( of 4 December 2025).

For Axpo Italia, the Naples operation represents a piece of the puzzle of a broader path of development of activities in the Small Scale LNG and Bio-LNG segment currently being developed development both in Italy and in Spain. The company is in fact, engaged in the construction of a supply chain dedicated to low-emission fuels for the maritime and marine sectors. which saw the entry into operation in 2026 of the Green Pearl, a 7,500 cubic meter unit intended for Ship-to-ship and ship-to-truck bunkering operations in ports and Alisos LNG, a new bunkering vessel for low-emission fuels with a capacity of 12,500 cubic meters that marked the beginning of its activities operational last March in Spain.

In Naples, the operation is the result of a collaboration between Axpo Italia with the Port Authority of Naples, the Italian Maritime Authority, of the Port System of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea and Terminal Napoli Spa who coordinated the operational and authorization activities bunkering, until the final measure adopted by the port commander in line with the Regulation on LNG refuelling approved in recent days by the Authority maritime. "It is - underlined the maritime director - of Campania and commander of the port, Admiral Inspector Giuseppe Aulicino - of an achievement of absolute importance for the port of Naples which sees the Neapolitan airport alongside those few ports in the Mediterranean where there are already carry out LNG refuelling operations. The process conducted by the Harbour Master's Office, with the involvement of the other actors with whom we have been working for months we compare to evaluate every aspect and allow the execution of the ship-to-ship bunkering, has always had the aim of ensuring the safety of the operations that we are going to present today, while guaranteeing the continuation of ordinary traffic seafarers of any other port operator. An operation that, in fact, it will probably become ordinary in Naples as well, on which we will naturally continue to monitor in order to maintain the stricter compliance with the required safety standards and regulated by us with ordinance no. 52/2026 which I signed a few days ago".

"The entry of LNG into our port - added the president of the Port Authority of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Eliseo Cuccaro - represents a strategic step towards maritime logistics more sustainable, with direct and immediate benefits in terms of of concrete reduction in emissions for those who live and work around at the airport. This milestone also strengthens competitiveness of the port, consolidating its role as an innovative hub and protagonist of the energy transition of the Italian port system".

It is, highlighted the CEO and general manager of Terminal Napoli Spa, Tomaso Cognolato, of «a an important milestone that projects Terminal Napoli, the second terminal Italian cruise industry, moving forward on the path of decarbonization which will be completed with the launch of the onshore power supply. The Neapolitan cruise hub represents one of the main gates access to the heart of Campania tourism. With this new opportunity will therefore be able to offer a further stimulus to the development of the cruise industry in Naples, and therefore of Campania, focusing not only on the already known tourist attractions, but expanding the high quality of technical services offered to the ship ensuring further refuelling possibilities capable of assisting new itineraries and rotations that are not possible today".