MSC Cruises ordered two LNG-powered ships with French shipbuilder Chantiers de L’Atlantique. The order demonstrates the company’s commitment to buying two world-class ships from the shipbuilder and offers the option to purchase a fifth ship later. World Class 3 and 4, the two new ships, will arrive in 2026 and 2027.
“We are proud to continue our 20-year partnership with the Chantiers de L’ Atlantique, with whom we have already built 18 ships with our 19 under construction,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises. “The World Class is a truly innovative prototype and together we are building some of the most advanced ships in the world. We are committed to researching and investing in future environmental technologies as they become available, to ensure we continue progressing on our decarbonization journey to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
MORE ABOUT MSC CRUISES’ ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY VESSELS
MSC World Europa and MSC World America are the most energy-efficient vessels in the industry, surpassing the requirements set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). The upcoming ships will revolutionize the World Class ships to increase energy efficiency with features such as the use of heat recovery and other technological solutions designed to reduce carbon footprint, an array of alternative fuels including bio and synthetic methane and green methanol, as well as next-generation dual fuel internal combustion engines with reduced methane slip.
“At a difficult time for the European shipbuilding industry, MSC Cruises has shown its confidence in our abilities and skills with this order,” said Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique. “We would therefore like to express our gratitude to MSC Cruises for its renewed confidence at this crucial time. In addition, MSC Cruises, always seeking to reduce the environmental impact of its ships quickly and significantly, has accepted a significant cost premium to improve the energy efficiency of these new ships which, according to the IMO’s EEDI index, will emit 50% less CO2 than the IMO’s 2008 benchmark.”
Castaing added, “We would also like to thank our government, whose support for our R&D policy to make our ships greener has enabled us to meet the customer’s expectations for this order.”
MORE ABOUT THE UPCOMING WORLD-CLASS SHIPS
The upcoming World Class ships will include shore power plug-in connectivity to decrease carbon emissions in port, advanced wastewater treatment systems devised according to the IMO, advances in waste management, and a comprehensive array of onboard energy-saving equipment to refine energy use and hotel energy needs to further decrease emissions.
The new orders will be subject to the industry practice of access to financing before being delivered.
What do you think of these upcoming energy-efficient ships? Let us know in the comments!
By Kashaf Rashid
Appeared first on: Porthole.com
