Mein Schiff Flow: TUI Cruises' ninth ship enters service
Christened in Trieste on 20 June and sailing from Palma de Mallorca since 16 August: Mein Schiff Flow is the second ship of the InTUItion class. What sets her apart — and what the LNG propulsion really means.
01. September 2026 ·
TUI Cruises has put the ninth ship of its fleet into service. Mein Schiff Flow was completed at Fincantieri in Monfalcone in June, christened in Trieste on 20 June, and has been sailing from Palma de Mallorca since 16 August.
The key figures
- Tonnage: around 160,000 GT
- Length: 333 metres
- Guests: up to roughly 4,000
- Shipyard: Fincantieri, Monfalcone (Italy)
- Class: InTUItion — second ship of the series
- Propulsion: dual-fuel, LNG and marine gas oil
That makes Flow considerably larger than Mein Schiff 7, which entered service in 2024 at around 111,500 GT. The jump in size is the most obvious difference between the existing fleet and the new series.
What defines the InTUItion class
Flow is not the beginning but the second half of a pair. Her sister Mein Schiff Relax was handed over on 7 February 2025 and christened in Málaga that April. Both are based on a platform Fincantieri developed specifically for TUI Cruises, with energy efficiency stated as the focus of the design.
And it will not stop at two: TUI Cruises has ordered two further ships of the same class, scheduled for 2031 and 2032. Anyone following the fleet over the years will notice the shift here from Mein Schiff numbering to names — a break with the system that had held since 2009.
LNG: an honest look at the propulsion
Flow runs on liquefied natural gas and can burn marine gas oil as an alternative. The marketing also highlights her ability to use bio-LNG and synthetic e-LNG. That is technically accurate and still needs explaining.
Compared with heavy fuel oil, LNG mainly cuts sulphur oxides and particulates — and there the improvement is substantial. On greenhouse gases the picture is more sober: the CO₂ advantage sits around 20 per cent, and unburnt methane slipping through the engine works against that advantage as a greenhouse gas in its own right. The ship is not emission-free.
The decisive question is therefore not whether the tank can take bio-LNG, but whether it can be bought in meaningful quantities at the ports of call. Today that is the exception. The technology is ready — the supply is not.
Christening and first voyages
Flow was christened in Trieste on 20 June, unusually by three godmothers. Her first regular departure port was Palma de Mallorca on 16 August — a starting point that matches her deployment area: the western Mediterranean in the summer season.
Follow her live
Like the rest of the fleet, Mein Schiff Flow can be followed on our 3D live globe and on the nautical chart whenever she is within range of an AIS receiving station. Position, speed, course and next port are updated every minute.