Maritime travel company Carnival Corp. said Monday it signed a deal to power its cruise ships with liquefied natural gas from Dutch energy company Shell.

Carnival said it signed up to become the first company of its kind to power vessels with liquefied natural gas. At the onset, Shell will supply LNG to two ships set for launch in 2019. The travel company said the agreement is part of a green initiative meant to reduce its environmental footprint.

"We are committed to reducing our air emissions and improving air quality by evaluating new and established solutions such as LNG -- an especially promising option because of its environmental and other benefits," Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corp., said in a statement.

Shell this year gained leverage in the liquefied natural gas market with its acquisition of rival BG Group.

Costs for the combined entity move lower by about $4 billion, but also led to "substantial" charges related to redundancies and restructuring changes for Shell. Before the agreement, BG Group was cleared by U.S. regulators to start building a liquefied natural gas export facility in Lake Charles, La.

The project in Lake Charles has conditional approval from federal regulators to export up to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in the cooler liquid form.

Shell in the statement on the agreement with Carnival said the agreement gives it a unique opportunity in an unconventional business segment.

"Working together from an early stage is critical in helping the transition to cleaner LNG cruising," Lauran Wetemans, a general manager for Shell's LNG business, said.