MSC Cruises is expanding the use of shore power for its fleet, with five ships recently completing test and operational connections across four ports.

The MSC World Europa and EXPLORA II connected in Malta’s Valletta, while MSC Seaview and MSC Poesia ran tests in Italy’s La Spezia and France’s Le Havre, MSC Cruises said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

The MSC Meraviglia also made the company’s first shore power connection in New York.

Shore power, or cold ironing, is growing at ports worldwide, cutting emissions by allowing vessels to shut off diesel generators in port.

While this helps reduce pollution in port areas, it is not enough to address global shipping emissions. Significant investment in low- and zero-carbon marine fuels is still needed to achieve broader decarbonisation.

Shore power’s green credentials are also reliant on the availability of power from renewable sources in the land-based grid.

MSC now has 18 shore power-enabled ships and continues retrofitting others as part of its emission reduction strategy.